Dowris hoard
The Dowris hoard is the largest hoard from the Irish Late Bronze Age. It was discovered in Derreens near the banks of Lough Coura at the beginning of the 19th century . Dowris (also Doorosheath , Irish Dúros ) near Whigsborough ( Baile na bhFuigeanna ) is northeast of Birr in County Offaly in Ireland . During the Bronze Age , the area was a shallow lake that silted up in the late Middle Ages .
Find history
The hoard was discovered by Edward Hennessy and another man while potato sticking, according to the recollections of Cooke around 1824. The place of discovery was a potato field between the willow and the moor, so it was not directly in the moor itself. The hoard was designed by William Parsons , and Thomas L. Cooke recovered from Parsonstown . Cooke, who is interested in antiquarian books, published an article about it in the Dublin Penny Journal . In November 1848 the clergyman Dr. Robinson gave a lecture on the finds at the Royal Irish Academy . Cooke then sent a paper on finding the hoard to correct "few minor errors and negligence".
composition
There were originally more than 200 pieces, Cooke speaks of "at least one horse load" of bronze objects. The Graf von Rosse kept some of the finds, Cooke others, but also gave items away to other collectors. Today there are 111 pieces in the National Museum of Ireland and 79 in the British Museum in London. These are:
- 44 spearheads
- 44 Crotales (a pendant- shaped musical instrument, according to John Coles a replica of bull testicles; the find is unique in Ireland).
- 43 grommet axes
- 26 bronze horns or trumpets in the shape of bull horns
- five swords (48 cm long; possibly from southern England)
- A riveted bronze bucket or kettle (presumably an imported situla )
- Two more buckets (presumably local copies)
- Various tools such as gouges , flat chisel and knife.
Dating
The subdivision of the bronzes of the Irish Bronze Age is based on Hort finds. The Dowris hoard belongs to the Ewart Park phase and was used to define the local Dowris phase. It belongs to Needham's Phase VI, ie approx. 850–600 BC. Chr.
The "Dowris phase" dates from 900–600 BC. Chr.
literature
- George Eogan: The Hoards of the Irish later Bronze Age . Dublin 1983 pp. 69-73.
Web links
- Finds in the British Museum
- Ancient Irish Bells, or Crotals (From The Dublin Penny Journal, Volume 1, Number 47, May 18, 1833) (last accessed December 19, 2012)
Individual evidence
- ↑ "... were not found in what can be properly denominated bog, but in the center of a potato garden extending down the slope of a rising ground between the paddock and the moorland." (Thomas L. Cooke: On Bronze Antiquities found at Dowris, in the King's County. In: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Volume 4, January 1, 1847, p. 435.)
- ↑ Volume 1, 1832, p. 376; after Cooke, Thomas L., On Bronze Antiquities found at Dowris, in the King's County. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy Volume 4, January 1, 1847, p. 423.
- ^ Thomas L. Cooke, On bronze Antiquities found at Dowris, in the King's County. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy Volume 4, January 1, 1847, p. 423. [1]
- ↑ "... at least a horse-load of gold-colored bronze antiquities, of a variety of forms ..." (Thomas L. Cooke: On Bronze Antiquities found at Dowris, in the King's County . In: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy Volume 4, 1 January 1847, p. 424)
- ^ Thomas L. Cooke: On Bronze Antiquities found at Dowris, in the King's County . In: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy Volume 4, January 1, 1847, p. 423. [2]
- ^ Thomas L. Cooke: On Bronze Antiquities found at Dowris, in the King's County. In: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy . Volume 4, January 1, 1847, p. 424. [3]
- ↑ Timothy Darvill (Ed.): The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archeology . 2nd Edition. Oxford, Oxford University Press 2008, ISBN 978-0-19-172713-9 .
- ^ Katharina Becker: The dating of Irish Late Bronze Age Dowris phase metalwork — a pilot study . In: Journal of Irish Archeology 21, 2012, Tab. 1. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/jirisarch.21.7 . Accessed 23-02-2020