[ 171 J 



XL 



FIND OF BRONZE OBJECTS AT ANNESBOROUGH, CO. ABMAGH. 



By GEOEGE COFFEY, M.R.I.A., and E. C. R. ARMSTRONG, F.S.A. 



Plate XVIII. 



Bead February 23. Published May 15, 1914. 



A very remarkable find of bronze objects was recently made in Co. Armagh, 

 on a farm at Annesborough, which lies between Lurgan and Longh Neagh. 

 Mr. H. C. Lawlor, of Belfast, a keen student of local antiquities, fortunately 

 heard of the find, and at once proceeded to the spot, and we give the account 

 of the find in his words as follows : — 



" These were found by the proprietor of the above farm on 14th April, 1913, 

 when sinking a hole to put in a gate-post. They were about 9 inches below 

 the level of the surrounding surface. The tore and fibula were first found. 

 A tree- root interfered with the work, and on its removal three bracelets were 

 found about 30 inches from the tore and fibula, and a few inches further 

 away was found the adze. One of the bracelets was given away by the 

 finder before he brought the rest to me. The hole was filled in again, and 

 the surplus soil spread over a potato plot. When I got the ornaments, I 

 went to the place and excavated the filled-in soil, riddling it to try and find 

 the missing inch or so of the tore, but was unsuccessful ; it was probably 

 among the soil spread over the potato plot." 



After making further examination of the site, Mr. Lawlor wrote at a 

 later date : — 



" Assuming, from the relative positions in which the several articles lay, 

 that they were the personal adornments of a man who lay as he died, with 

 the adze in his hand, 1 decided to excavate where the body would have lain 

 if this had been the case. Beginning with the spot where the tore and fibula 

 lay, we carefully dug where the body would have lain if it had been 

 face downwards. We then dug where the body would have lain if on its 

 back, but our further searches were quite negative. Later on in the season, 



B.I.A. PKOC, VOL. XXXIJ, SECT. C. [27] 



