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XXYIII. 



NOTES ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF SPEAE-HEADS OF 

 THE BEONZE AGE FOUND IN lEELAND. By GEOEGE 

 COFFEY. 



[Read, January 22, 1894.] 



The varieties of bronze spear -heads found in Great Britain and Ireland 

 have been fully described by Sir John Evans in his important work, 

 " The Ancient Bronze Implements, "Weapons, and Ornaments of Great 

 Britain and Ireland." He has not, however, attempted to trace tlie 

 succession of forms in detail, or to distinguish types in general use from 

 those of limited and special manufacture. The same may be said of 

 SirW. Wilde's classification of Irish spear-heads ("Catalogue of the 

 Museum of theEoyal Irish Academy"), and of Dr. Anderson's descrip- 

 tion of the Scotch spear-heads in his work on the "Bronze Age in 

 Scotland." 



Spear-heads would, in fact, seem to be regarded as forming a 

 simple subdivision of Bronze Age weapons, within which types are 

 distinguished for convenience of description. It would further seem 

 to be implied that the several types were employed indifferently 

 throughout the period during which the bronze spear remained in use. 

 The 'following introductory note to the bronze spear-heads in the 

 "Catalogue of the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland," which 

 I extract entire, sufficiently illustrates this statement : — 



" The spear-heads of bronze, which, like the socketed axes, belong 

 to a time when casting over a core was practised, are often very fine 

 examples of the founder's art. The blade varies from a short to a 

 very elongated leaf-shape. The socket, which is usually round, but 

 sometimes slightly oval, is often prolonged for several inches beyond 

 the base of the blade, and in all cases it extends along the middle 

 of the blade as a midrib, coned almost to the point. In the larger 

 examples there are occasionally segmental and circular openings in the 

 blade on either side of the midrib, and sometimes a system of ornamen- 

 tation of dots and lines is applied to the blade and socket. The socket 

 frec^uently shows two rivet-holes for the fastening to the shaft, or a 



