Like the other vessels, they can be divided into different types, of which some are peculiar to England, and even there confined to certain counties. In Ireland several of these small cups have perforated walls, while some have handles. One remarkable specimen found at Knocknacoura, Co. Carlow, is covered all over with ornament. In the fine cist discovered at Greenhills, County Dublin, and now set up in the National Museum, a very remarkable little cup was found inside the large inverted cinerary urn (fig. 84). The form of this small cup appears to be originally derived from a metal prototype, and exactly resembles pottery-vessels of Iron-Age date found in the cemetery at Marne. CHAPTER XII BRONZE-AGE ORNAMENTATION IN IRELAND The ornament of the Bronze Age in Ireland consists of chevrons, hatched triangles, lozenges, etc., combined with some wavy patterns, and later in some instances with the spirals introduced from Scandinavia,[53] where this motive had penetrated early from the AEgean along the amber route. This early type of ornament can be seen on some of the bronze celts, and also on the pottery, notably the food-vessels, which are often most tastefully decorated. The ornamentation, however, can be most fully studied on the inscribed stones in the great monuments of the New Grange group. These monuments, perhaps the most remarkable in Western Europe, have justly aroused the interest of generations of archaeologists, and many interpretations have been placed upon their decoration. Having dealt so fully with this subject in a recent book, "New Grange and other Incised Tumuli in Ireland," 1912, it is not proposed to go into the question again, but there are one or two points that may be noticed. [53] See Hoernes, "Jahrbuch fuer Altertnmskunde," Band vi, p. 163. The most remarkable feature about the ornamentation at New Grange is the occurrence of the spiral motive; and it is the presence of this distinctive motive which has led to so much speculation. It may be stated at once that the general view at present held by those who have studied the question is that the spiral was introduced, and that in the case of Ireland it was derived from Scandinavia. The similarity between New Grange and the tholos tombs of the mainland of Greece is so striking that it is at least likely that the former may have been derived from the latter.