Yetholm shield from Lough Gur

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Dimensions
  • Diameter: 71.3 cm
  • Diameter of the hump: 15.65 cm
  • Height of the hump: 3.3 cm
  • Weight: 1611 g
Construction of a yetholm shield
The central hump is surrounded by concentric rings, which in turn are filled with smaller humps

The Yetholm shield from Lough Gur (object number IA: 1872.15) is a round shield made of bronze in the Yetholm style, which dates back to around 700 BC. Is dated. It was found in 1872 on a moor between Ballinamoona and Herbertstown on Lough Gur in County Limerick , Ireland and is now in the Irish National Museum .

description

The shield was made from one piece, ribs and humps were then driven into its corrugated surface . In the middle of the shield there is a large shield boss that is set off by a circumferential tire. The center is surrounded by six evenly concentric ribs, between the rings of which there are smaller humps. The edge was formed by twisting the edge. On the back, the handcuff , which is held by two rivets, runs over the depression of the central hump . In the middle hump ring there are two loops that are also attached with rivets.

There was a fibrous material on the shield, which was first interpreted as the remainder of a leather cover and later as the remains of a textile in which the shield is said to have been wrapped. In fact, the origin of the substance is unclear.

Function and meaning

It is believed that the shield served primarily as a parade shield, since the around 700 BC. The leather shields commonly used in BC withstood the attacks of the swords of that time. It is possible, however, that the corrugated surface offered protection from sword blows, as this increased the resistance of the material.

Of a total of 21 yetholm shields (named after a site in Scotland ) found in the British Isles , it is the only one found in Ireland, so there is a possibility that it was imported from Great Britain. Another shield was found in Denmark.

See also

literature

  • John Evans: The ancient bronze implements, weapons, and ornaments of Great Britain and Ireland . Longmans, Green & Co., London 1881. p. 352.
  • Frank Mitchell: Treasures of early Irish art, 1500 BC to 1500 AC Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1977. pp. 52-53.
  • Eamon P. Kelly: 23a. Large bronze shield . In: Hansgeorg Stiegeler, Hansgerd Hellenkemper (ed.): Irish art from three millennia - Thesaurus Hiberniae . Von Zabern, Mainz 1983. ISBN 3-8053-0736-5 . P. 94.
  • Joseph Raftery: Artists and craftsmen. Irish art treasures . National Museum of Ireland, Dublin 1980. p. 21.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Eamon P. Kelly: 23a. Large bronze shield . In: Irish art from three millennia . P. 94.
  2. ↑ a b Irish National Museum ( Memento from February 18, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )

Coordinates: 53 ° 20 ′ 23 "  N , 6 ° 15 ′ 12"  W.