174 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



The first, which is of exactly the same type as the Annesborough brooch, 

 measures If inches in length, and the cross-piece measures If inches. The 

 pin is missing, but a portion of the attachment remains (text-fig. 3). It was 

 formerly in the Petrie collection, but no particulars as to its finding have 

 been preserved. The second brooch is also of the same type, and a very fine 

 specimen. It measures 3 inches in length, and the cross-piece is \§ of an 

 inch long. The bow is decorated, and also the cross-piece (text-fig. 5). 

 Unfortunately no record of it can be traced ; but on the analogy of the Annes- 

 borough brooch, there is a fair probability of its having been found in Ireland. 



The next example is of a later type, belonging to the close of the third and 

 commencement of the fourth century a.d. (text-fig. 4). It is of the ordinary 

 Roman crossbow variety, which occurs very commonly in finds made in the 

 Roman Wall. The type survived the fall of the Western Empire, and one was 

 found in the tomb of the Frankish King Childeric I (d. 481). The brooch 

 (text-fig. 4) measures 3 inches in length, and the cross-piece is If inches 

 long ; it is of the ordinary shape, with knobs at the top of the bow and ends 

 of the cross-piece, the foot being ornamented on the front, and the pin 

 missing. It was formerly in the Petrie collection, and is stated to have been 

 found in Ireland. This type is a later stage of the provincial Roman brooches, 

 and is related to the Teutonic cruciform brooch, but is not in the direct line 

 of descent. 



The last brooch is of a distinctly Celtic character. It is bronze, and 

 unfortunately a good deal damaged. It measures some 3 \ inches in length; 

 and the head, which had a ring attached, measures an inch across (text-fig. 2). 

 It resembles the silver gilt specimen found at Backworth, Northumberland, 

 figured in the "British Museum Iron Age Guide," p. 102, fig. 84, and is akin 

 to the very remarkable fibulae found at Aesica, Great Chesters, and illustrated 

 by Sir Arthur Evans, " Archaeologia," vol. lv, p. 181, fig. 4. The loop, of 

 which only a fragment remains in the example we are describing, was to take 

 one end of a chain, as these brooches were worn in pairs. The pin was 

 attached by means of a spring. It is most unfortunate that the brooch is in 

 such a damaged condition, as it appears to have been ornamented with enamel, 

 and must have been a very interesting specimen of these Celtic fibulae. 

 As regards date, it probably belongs to the end of the second century a.d. 



Returning to the objects found at Annesborough, it only remains to make 

 some suggestions as to the finding together of objects differing in date by 

 some 1000 years. It must be recollected that no remains of burnt or 

 unburnt bones were found with them ; and although it is possible that all 

 traces of the bones might have disappeared, this is unlikely, and we are 

 inclined to dismiss the possibility of their having formed part of a grave- 

 deposit. 



