This thesis investigates the technology of iron production in Iron Age and early medieval Ireland... more This thesis investigates the technology of iron production in Iron Age and early medieval Ireland and, through two case studies, situates iron production in its social context. Archaeological evidence from 202 sites, many recently excavated and unpublished is analysed, allowing the characterisation of the archaeology of Irish smelting and smithing sites, including features such as furnaces and smithing hearths as well as associated finds and structures. An Iron Age case study focuses on an iron producing region in the Irish midlands. This area has produced a significant number of dispersed, isolated and small-scale smelting sites from the period, as well as a very small number of smithing sites associated with ritually significant hilltop sites. It is argued that smith/smelters in the Iron Age of the region played a significant role in what was probably a mobile, pastoral society. They had a dual role as both craft-workers and ritual specialists, smelting iron in isolation before creating desirable objects at places of communal ritual and ceremony. A second case study focuses on the idea of the ironworker as a specialist in early medieval society. It is argued that the role of ironworkers changed significantly at the beginning of the period with the arrival of Christianity and the appropriation of iron technology by the Church, which organised the first large-scale specialist smithing in the country. As the period progressed smithing became a more common activity, carried out by a spectrum of workers including high-status secular smiths working on a very large-scale.
This thesis investigates the technology of iron production in Iron Age and early medieval Ireland... more This thesis investigates the technology of iron production in Iron Age and early medieval Ireland and, through two case studies, situates iron production in its social context. Archaeological evidence from 202 sites, many recently excavated and unpublished is analysed, allowing the characterisation of the archaeology of Irish smelting and smithing sites, including features such as furnaces and smithing hearths as well as associated finds and structures.
An Iron Age case study focuses on an iron producing region in the Irish midlands. This area has produced a significant number of dispersed, isolated and small-scale smelting sites from the period, as well as a very small number of smithing sites associated with ritually significant hilltop sites. It is argued that smith/smelters in the Iron Age of the region played a significant role in what was probably a mobile, pastoral society. They had a dual role as both craft-workers and ritual specialists, smelting iron in isolation before creating desirable objects at places of communal ritual and ceremony.
A second case study focuses on the idea of the ironworker as a specialist in early medieval society. It is argued that the role of ironworkers changed significantly at the beginning of the period with the arrival of Christianity and the appropriation of iron technology by the Church, which organised the first large-scale specialist smithing in the country. As the period progressed smithing became a more common activity, carried out by a spectrum of workers including high-status secular smiths working on a very large-scale.
Trowel is a professional archaeology journal published by archaeology students in University Coll... more Trowel is a professional archaeology journal published by archaeology students in University College Dublin. The new edition contains contributions on a wide selection of archaeology-related topics and from a diverse range of people.
Contents Identifying burials of the Early Iron Age and Transitional periods c. 800 BC–AD 600 Tiernan McGarry An experimental approach to Irish latchets Sharon A. Greene The use of domestic space in Early Medieval roundhouses Triona Nicholl Animal–human relations in the Mesolithic of Ireland Declan Kelly The stave churches of Norway: architectural relics of a forgotten time Goril Eline Nordtvedt Archaeology's aristocracy: an interview with Lord Colin Renfrew Niall Kenny and Brian Dolan Student attitudes to archaeology: a UCD student survey Niall Kenny The classical museum Christian Haywood
REFLECTIONS SECTION: Odin's world Seamus Heaney A memoir of Knowth CJH A youthful archaeology Aisling Healy St Michan's and the archaeology of Ireland Bertie Ahern Historians looking at archaeology: a personal memoir Howard Clarke Finding a heartbeat John Feehan Archaeology, classics and history Philip de Souza
This thesis presents the analysis of two surface collections picked up in the last fourteen years... more This thesis presents the analysis of two surface collections picked up in the last fourteen years on Lambay Island, County Dublin. The artifacts collected were not found in ploughed contexts, they were exposed through various erosion processes including coastal erosion, cattle movement and rabbit excavations. The material posed a challenge in terms of its lack of context and the unusual processes that brought it to light. Analysis of the collections is important in the context of current ongoing research on the island by Gabriel Cooney, providing a baseline survey of the chipped stone technologies of the island as well as an idea of prehistoric use of the island landscape in different periods.
The thesis provides an introductory background to the geography, history and research that has been carried out on the island. A historical summary of research into Irish Neolithic and Bronze Age chipped stone technologies is also given together with a brief summary of Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age typologies and technologies. The analysis of the collections was carried out through the use of individual artifact analysis in a Microsoft Access database, the generation of maps within a GIS and a field survey of beach pebbles from the coastline of Lambay.
The results of the analysis provide the first definite evidence for Late Mesolithic activity on the island in the form of a butt-trimmed flake, possible evidence for Early Mesolithic activity was also found. The majority of the artifacts appear to date to a broad Neolithic/Bronze Age timeframe. One potentially significant and possibly Early Neolithic site was discovered in the northeastern uplands of the island but the majority of finds come from the western lowland area close to the best sources of flint. The analysis also provided definite evidence for links between Lambay and the wider Irish Sea region in the form of a large exotic flint flake and a small pitchstone artifact which originated in the island of Arran off the coast of Scotland. The thesis provides an excellent springboard for future research in Lambay, providing a broad background picture of the extent of activity on the island in different phases in prehistory. It also provides a model for studying non-ploughzone surface collections with reasonably good spatial information.
The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 2012
This paper examines previous understandings of bullauns, using ethnographic and archaeological ev... more This paper examines previous understandings of bullauns, using ethnographic and archaeological evidence to re-evaluate the function(s) of bullauns in the past. In particular it considers the use of bullauns in the production of metals and metal objects. The possibility of a metallurgical function for bullauns has long been recognised,2 but generally overlooked. Recent research by the author,3 focused on early iron production in Ireland, suggests that many bullauns may have been mortars used in the smithing of metals, particularly iron.
Access to restricted knowledge about craft could be a valuable and powerful tool in the creation ... more Access to restricted knowledge about craft could be a valuable and powerful tool in the creation of identity and status within prehistoric societies. In Iron Age Ireland, recent evidence for the geographic division of iron smelting and smithing sites suggests strong social control of craft activities and knowledge. This, combined with the small scale of production in comparison to contemporary iron industries in Britain, suggest the artificial restriction of supply and the treatment of iron as a very high-status material. Smelting was carried out in isolated locations for short periods of time, and this was arguably in order to restrict knowledge of a relatively simple craft process. In contrast, the complex and highly skilled work of blacksmiths was, literally, performed in the midst of hilltop sites that were centres of ritual, power, religion and identity. It is argued that smithing, was a key part of religious symbolism, ritual and ceremony in the period.
The past two decades have seen an expansion of archaeological
activity on the island of Ireland ... more The past two decades have seen an expansion of archaeological
activity on the island of Ireland that has transformed our knowledge and understanding of most periods in Irish prehistory and history. However, Iron Age sites and artefacts remain rare finds and are often ephemeral, particularly in the case of settlements. It is now clear that the peculiarly sparse record of the Irish Iron Age is genuinely representative of the surviving archaeology. It is also clear that this evidence does not fit the traditional ‘Celtic’ picture of warrior elites, druids and tribal hierarchies imported from other regions and later insular texts. This paper proposes an alternative model for the Irish Iron Age of the first millennium BC, one that centres on nomadism and heterarchy.
Two collections of unsystematically surface-collected lithics from the island of Lambay, Co. Dubl... more Two collections of unsystematically surface-collected lithics from the island of Lambay, Co. Dublin, were analysed using an integrated methodology focused on a Geographical Information System-based approach, incorporating a number of analytical perspectives. Analysis and mapping of this material provides an impor-tant new perspective on prehistoric human activity on the island. Assessment of the diagnostic artefacts demonstrated the presence of human activity during the Later Mesolithic and it seems very likely that people were present on Lambay from the Early Mesolithic. There were a number of signifi cant individual assemblages and two of these are discussed in detail. Widespread activity across the island has also been revealed as well as the persistent use of key locales over long periods. The study provides an important complement to the results of the excavation at the Neolithic axe-quarry site on the island at the Eagle’s Nest as well as a consideration of Lambay’s context and long-distance contacts in the wider Irish Sea region.
Surface artefact scatters are an important and abundant archaeological resource. Lithic specialis... more Surface artefact scatters are an important and abundant archaeological resource. Lithic specialists have for a long time recognised, and exploited, the potential of scatters brought to light through ploughing. This paper uses the case study of a surface collection from Lambay Island, Co. Dublin to highlight the potential of surface material affected by a variety of other taphonomic processes including rabbit and cattle activity, coastal erosion and spade cultivation. The various effects of these processes and the difficulties they pose for interpretation of the material are discussed and one methodology for dealing with them is detailed. It is concluded that, despite the problems inherent in the material, non-ploughzone surface scatters can provide valuable insights into the lives of the people who created them.
This thesis investigates the technology of iron production in Iron Age and early medieval Ireland... more This thesis investigates the technology of iron production in Iron Age and early medieval Ireland and, through two case studies, situates iron production in its social context. Archaeological evidence from 202 sites, many recently excavated and unpublished is analysed, allowing the characterisation of the archaeology of Irish smelting and smithing sites, including features such as furnaces and smithing hearths as well as associated finds and structures. An Iron Age case study focuses on an iron producing region in the Irish midlands. This area has produced a significant number of dispersed, isolated and small-scale smelting sites from the period, as well as a very small number of smithing sites associated with ritually significant hilltop sites. It is argued that smith/smelters in the Iron Age of the region played a significant role in what was probably a mobile, pastoral society. They had a dual role as both craft-workers and ritual specialists, smelting iron in isolation before creating desirable objects at places of communal ritual and ceremony. A second case study focuses on the idea of the ironworker as a specialist in early medieval society. It is argued that the role of ironworkers changed significantly at the beginning of the period with the arrival of Christianity and the appropriation of iron technology by the Church, which organised the first large-scale specialist smithing in the country. As the period progressed smithing became a more common activity, carried out by a spectrum of workers including high-status secular smiths working on a very large-scale.
This thesis investigates the technology of iron production in Iron Age and early medieval Ireland... more This thesis investigates the technology of iron production in Iron Age and early medieval Ireland and, through two case studies, situates iron production in its social context. Archaeological evidence from 202 sites, many recently excavated and unpublished is analysed, allowing the characterisation of the archaeology of Irish smelting and smithing sites, including features such as furnaces and smithing hearths as well as associated finds and structures.
An Iron Age case study focuses on an iron producing region in the Irish midlands. This area has produced a significant number of dispersed, isolated and small-scale smelting sites from the period, as well as a very small number of smithing sites associated with ritually significant hilltop sites. It is argued that smith/smelters in the Iron Age of the region played a significant role in what was probably a mobile, pastoral society. They had a dual role as both craft-workers and ritual specialists, smelting iron in isolation before creating desirable objects at places of communal ritual and ceremony.
A second case study focuses on the idea of the ironworker as a specialist in early medieval society. It is argued that the role of ironworkers changed significantly at the beginning of the period with the arrival of Christianity and the appropriation of iron technology by the Church, which organised the first large-scale specialist smithing in the country. As the period progressed smithing became a more common activity, carried out by a spectrum of workers including high-status secular smiths working on a very large-scale.
Trowel is a professional archaeology journal published by archaeology students in University Coll... more Trowel is a professional archaeology journal published by archaeology students in University College Dublin. The new edition contains contributions on a wide selection of archaeology-related topics and from a diverse range of people.
Contents Identifying burials of the Early Iron Age and Transitional periods c. 800 BC–AD 600 Tiernan McGarry An experimental approach to Irish latchets Sharon A. Greene The use of domestic space in Early Medieval roundhouses Triona Nicholl Animal–human relations in the Mesolithic of Ireland Declan Kelly The stave churches of Norway: architectural relics of a forgotten time Goril Eline Nordtvedt Archaeology's aristocracy: an interview with Lord Colin Renfrew Niall Kenny and Brian Dolan Student attitudes to archaeology: a UCD student survey Niall Kenny The classical museum Christian Haywood
REFLECTIONS SECTION: Odin's world Seamus Heaney A memoir of Knowth CJH A youthful archaeology Aisling Healy St Michan's and the archaeology of Ireland Bertie Ahern Historians looking at archaeology: a personal memoir Howard Clarke Finding a heartbeat John Feehan Archaeology, classics and history Philip de Souza
This thesis presents the analysis of two surface collections picked up in the last fourteen years... more This thesis presents the analysis of two surface collections picked up in the last fourteen years on Lambay Island, County Dublin. The artifacts collected were not found in ploughed contexts, they were exposed through various erosion processes including coastal erosion, cattle movement and rabbit excavations. The material posed a challenge in terms of its lack of context and the unusual processes that brought it to light. Analysis of the collections is important in the context of current ongoing research on the island by Gabriel Cooney, providing a baseline survey of the chipped stone technologies of the island as well as an idea of prehistoric use of the island landscape in different periods.
The thesis provides an introductory background to the geography, history and research that has been carried out on the island. A historical summary of research into Irish Neolithic and Bronze Age chipped stone technologies is also given together with a brief summary of Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age typologies and technologies. The analysis of the collections was carried out through the use of individual artifact analysis in a Microsoft Access database, the generation of maps within a GIS and a field survey of beach pebbles from the coastline of Lambay.
The results of the analysis provide the first definite evidence for Late Mesolithic activity on the island in the form of a butt-trimmed flake, possible evidence for Early Mesolithic activity was also found. The majority of the artifacts appear to date to a broad Neolithic/Bronze Age timeframe. One potentially significant and possibly Early Neolithic site was discovered in the northeastern uplands of the island but the majority of finds come from the western lowland area close to the best sources of flint. The analysis also provided definite evidence for links between Lambay and the wider Irish Sea region in the form of a large exotic flint flake and a small pitchstone artifact which originated in the island of Arran off the coast of Scotland. The thesis provides an excellent springboard for future research in Lambay, providing a broad background picture of the extent of activity on the island in different phases in prehistory. It also provides a model for studying non-ploughzone surface collections with reasonably good spatial information.
The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 2012
This paper examines previous understandings of bullauns, using ethnographic and archaeological ev... more This paper examines previous understandings of bullauns, using ethnographic and archaeological evidence to re-evaluate the function(s) of bullauns in the past. In particular it considers the use of bullauns in the production of metals and metal objects. The possibility of a metallurgical function for bullauns has long been recognised,2 but generally overlooked. Recent research by the author,3 focused on early iron production in Ireland, suggests that many bullauns may have been mortars used in the smithing of metals, particularly iron.
Access to restricted knowledge about craft could be a valuable and powerful tool in the creation ... more Access to restricted knowledge about craft could be a valuable and powerful tool in the creation of identity and status within prehistoric societies. In Iron Age Ireland, recent evidence for the geographic division of iron smelting and smithing sites suggests strong social control of craft activities and knowledge. This, combined with the small scale of production in comparison to contemporary iron industries in Britain, suggest the artificial restriction of supply and the treatment of iron as a very high-status material. Smelting was carried out in isolated locations for short periods of time, and this was arguably in order to restrict knowledge of a relatively simple craft process. In contrast, the complex and highly skilled work of blacksmiths was, literally, performed in the midst of hilltop sites that were centres of ritual, power, religion and identity. It is argued that smithing, was a key part of religious symbolism, ritual and ceremony in the period.
The past two decades have seen an expansion of archaeological
activity on the island of Ireland ... more The past two decades have seen an expansion of archaeological
activity on the island of Ireland that has transformed our knowledge and understanding of most periods in Irish prehistory and history. However, Iron Age sites and artefacts remain rare finds and are often ephemeral, particularly in the case of settlements. It is now clear that the peculiarly sparse record of the Irish Iron Age is genuinely representative of the surviving archaeology. It is also clear that this evidence does not fit the traditional ‘Celtic’ picture of warrior elites, druids and tribal hierarchies imported from other regions and later insular texts. This paper proposes an alternative model for the Irish Iron Age of the first millennium BC, one that centres on nomadism and heterarchy.
Two collections of unsystematically surface-collected lithics from the island of Lambay, Co. Dubl... more Two collections of unsystematically surface-collected lithics from the island of Lambay, Co. Dublin, were analysed using an integrated methodology focused on a Geographical Information System-based approach, incorporating a number of analytical perspectives. Analysis and mapping of this material provides an impor-tant new perspective on prehistoric human activity on the island. Assessment of the diagnostic artefacts demonstrated the presence of human activity during the Later Mesolithic and it seems very likely that people were present on Lambay from the Early Mesolithic. There were a number of signifi cant individual assemblages and two of these are discussed in detail. Widespread activity across the island has also been revealed as well as the persistent use of key locales over long periods. The study provides an important complement to the results of the excavation at the Neolithic axe-quarry site on the island at the Eagle’s Nest as well as a consideration of Lambay’s context and long-distance contacts in the wider Irish Sea region.
Surface artefact scatters are an important and abundant archaeological resource. Lithic specialis... more Surface artefact scatters are an important and abundant archaeological resource. Lithic specialists have for a long time recognised, and exploited, the potential of scatters brought to light through ploughing. This paper uses the case study of a surface collection from Lambay Island, Co. Dublin to highlight the potential of surface material affected by a variety of other taphonomic processes including rabbit and cattle activity, coastal erosion and spade cultivation. The various effects of these processes and the difficulties they pose for interpretation of the material are discussed and one methodology for dealing with them is detailed. It is concluded that, despite the problems inherent in the material, non-ploughzone surface scatters can provide valuable insights into the lives of the people who created them.
Uploads
Books by Brian Dolan
An Iron Age case study focuses on an iron producing region in the Irish midlands. This area has produced a significant number of dispersed, isolated and small-scale smelting sites from the period, as well as a very small number of smithing sites associated with ritually significant hilltop sites. It is argued that smith/smelters in the Iron Age of the region played a significant role in what was probably a mobile, pastoral society. They had a dual role as both craft-workers and ritual specialists, smelting iron in isolation before creating desirable objects at places of communal ritual and ceremony.
A second case study focuses on the idea of the ironworker as a specialist in early medieval society. It is argued that the role of ironworkers changed significantly at the beginning of the period with the arrival of Christianity and the appropriation of iron technology by the Church, which organised the first large-scale specialist smithing in the country. As the period progressed smithing became a more common activity, carried out by a spectrum of workers including high-status secular smiths working on a very large-scale.
Contents
Identifying burials of the Early Iron Age and Transitional periods c. 800 BC–AD 600
Tiernan McGarry
An experimental approach to Irish latchets
Sharon A. Greene
The use of domestic space in Early Medieval roundhouses
Triona Nicholl
Animal–human relations in the Mesolithic of Ireland
Declan Kelly
The stave churches of Norway: architectural relics of a forgotten time
Goril Eline Nordtvedt
Archaeology's aristocracy: an interview with Lord Colin Renfrew
Niall Kenny and Brian Dolan
Student attitudes to archaeology: a UCD student survey
Niall Kenny
The classical museum
Christian Haywood
REFLECTIONS SECTION:
Odin's world
Seamus Heaney
A memoir of Knowth
CJH
A youthful archaeology
Aisling Healy
St Michan's and the archaeology of Ireland
Bertie Ahern
Historians looking at archaeology: a personal memoir
Howard Clarke
Finding a heartbeat
John Feehan
Archaeology, classics and history
Philip de Souza
The thesis provides an introductory background to the geography, history and research that has been carried out on the island. A historical summary of research into Irish Neolithic and Bronze Age chipped stone technologies is also given together with a brief summary of Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age typologies and technologies. The analysis of the collections was carried out through the use of individual artifact analysis in a Microsoft Access database, the generation of maps within a GIS and a field survey of beach pebbles from the coastline of Lambay.
The results of the analysis provide the first definite evidence for Late Mesolithic activity on the island in the form of a butt-trimmed flake, possible evidence for Early Mesolithic activity was also found. The majority of the artifacts appear to date to a broad Neolithic/Bronze Age timeframe. One potentially significant and possibly Early Neolithic site was discovered in the northeastern uplands of the island but the majority of finds come from the western lowland area close to the best sources of flint. The analysis also provided definite evidence for links between Lambay and the wider Irish Sea region in the form of a large exotic flint flake and a small pitchstone artifact which originated in the island of Arran off the coast of Scotland.
The thesis provides an excellent springboard for future research in Lambay, providing a broad background picture of the extent of activity on the island in different phases in prehistory. It also provides a model for studying non-ploughzone surface collections with reasonably good spatial information.
Papers by Brian Dolan
activity on the island of Ireland that has transformed our knowledge and understanding of most periods in Irish prehistory and history. However, Iron Age sites and artefacts remain rare finds and are often ephemeral, particularly in the case of settlements. It is now clear that the peculiarly sparse record of the Irish Iron Age is genuinely representative of the surviving archaeology. It is also clear that this evidence does not fit the traditional ‘Celtic’ picture of warrior elites, druids and tribal hierarchies imported from other regions and later insular texts. This paper proposes an alternative model for the Irish Iron Age of the first millennium BC, one that centres on nomadism and heterarchy.
Mesolithic and it seems very likely that people were present on Lambay from the Early Mesolithic. There were a number of signifi cant individual assemblages and two of these are discussed in detail. Widespread activity across the island has also been revealed as well as the persistent use of key locales over long periods. The study provides an important complement to the results of the excavation at the Neolithic axe-quarry site on the island at the Eagle’s Nest as well as a consideration of Lambay’s context and long-distance contacts in the wider Irish Sea region.
Talks by Brian Dolan
An Iron Age case study focuses on an iron producing region in the Irish midlands. This area has produced a significant number of dispersed, isolated and small-scale smelting sites from the period, as well as a very small number of smithing sites associated with ritually significant hilltop sites. It is argued that smith/smelters in the Iron Age of the region played a significant role in what was probably a mobile, pastoral society. They had a dual role as both craft-workers and ritual specialists, smelting iron in isolation before creating desirable objects at places of communal ritual and ceremony.
A second case study focuses on the idea of the ironworker as a specialist in early medieval society. It is argued that the role of ironworkers changed significantly at the beginning of the period with the arrival of Christianity and the appropriation of iron technology by the Church, which organised the first large-scale specialist smithing in the country. As the period progressed smithing became a more common activity, carried out by a spectrum of workers including high-status secular smiths working on a very large-scale.
Contents
Identifying burials of the Early Iron Age and Transitional periods c. 800 BC–AD 600
Tiernan McGarry
An experimental approach to Irish latchets
Sharon A. Greene
The use of domestic space in Early Medieval roundhouses
Triona Nicholl
Animal–human relations in the Mesolithic of Ireland
Declan Kelly
The stave churches of Norway: architectural relics of a forgotten time
Goril Eline Nordtvedt
Archaeology's aristocracy: an interview with Lord Colin Renfrew
Niall Kenny and Brian Dolan
Student attitudes to archaeology: a UCD student survey
Niall Kenny
The classical museum
Christian Haywood
REFLECTIONS SECTION:
Odin's world
Seamus Heaney
A memoir of Knowth
CJH
A youthful archaeology
Aisling Healy
St Michan's and the archaeology of Ireland
Bertie Ahern
Historians looking at archaeology: a personal memoir
Howard Clarke
Finding a heartbeat
John Feehan
Archaeology, classics and history
Philip de Souza
The thesis provides an introductory background to the geography, history and research that has been carried out on the island. A historical summary of research into Irish Neolithic and Bronze Age chipped stone technologies is also given together with a brief summary of Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age typologies and technologies. The analysis of the collections was carried out through the use of individual artifact analysis in a Microsoft Access database, the generation of maps within a GIS and a field survey of beach pebbles from the coastline of Lambay.
The results of the analysis provide the first definite evidence for Late Mesolithic activity on the island in the form of a butt-trimmed flake, possible evidence for Early Mesolithic activity was also found. The majority of the artifacts appear to date to a broad Neolithic/Bronze Age timeframe. One potentially significant and possibly Early Neolithic site was discovered in the northeastern uplands of the island but the majority of finds come from the western lowland area close to the best sources of flint. The analysis also provided definite evidence for links between Lambay and the wider Irish Sea region in the form of a large exotic flint flake and a small pitchstone artifact which originated in the island of Arran off the coast of Scotland.
The thesis provides an excellent springboard for future research in Lambay, providing a broad background picture of the extent of activity on the island in different phases in prehistory. It also provides a model for studying non-ploughzone surface collections with reasonably good spatial information.
activity on the island of Ireland that has transformed our knowledge and understanding of most periods in Irish prehistory and history. However, Iron Age sites and artefacts remain rare finds and are often ephemeral, particularly in the case of settlements. It is now clear that the peculiarly sparse record of the Irish Iron Age is genuinely representative of the surviving archaeology. It is also clear that this evidence does not fit the traditional ‘Celtic’ picture of warrior elites, druids and tribal hierarchies imported from other regions and later insular texts. This paper proposes an alternative model for the Irish Iron Age of the first millennium BC, one that centres on nomadism and heterarchy.
Mesolithic and it seems very likely that people were present on Lambay from the Early Mesolithic. There were a number of signifi cant individual assemblages and two of these are discussed in detail. Widespread activity across the island has also been revealed as well as the persistent use of key locales over long periods. The study provides an important complement to the results of the excavation at the Neolithic axe-quarry site on the island at the Eagle’s Nest as well as a consideration of Lambay’s context and long-distance contacts in the wider Irish Sea region.