Coffey — Sjjear -heads of the Bronze Age found in Ireland. 509 



tion of a new culture, by trade or invasion. The change appears to 

 have taken place rapidly, and the new type to have been introduced in 

 large numbers. A change in the method of casting appears to have 

 taken place at the same time, clay or sand moulds being substituted for 

 those of stone. It is perhaps not right to lay too much stress on this 

 latter point, the number of stone moulds known being small. But the 

 evidence of the moulds is so marked that its cumulative value cannot 

 be overlooked. 



The small area in Europe to which the looped type is confined is 

 remarkable. Evans states that " spear-heads of this class with loops 

 at the side of the sockets are almost unknown ont of the British 

 Islands " (p. 327). He mentions one in his collection from the Seine 

 at Paris, and another from Hungary in the museum at Buda-Pesth. 

 Again, at page 481, he writes : " "When we turn to the spear-heads of 

 these islands, we find that though the leaf-shaj^ed form prevails over 

 the greater part of Europe, yet those with loops at the side of the 

 socket and with loops at the base of the blade are common in the 

 British Isles, while they are extremely rare in France, and almost 

 unknown elsewhere." 



The looped spear-head is thus one of the distinctive types of the 

 Bronze Age in Great Britain and Ireland. But though common to 

 England and Scotland as well as Ireland, it is more distinctively the 

 Irish type, and has been found in larger numbers in Ireland than in 

 either of the former countries. I cannot give figures for this state- 

 ment. But the looped and ribbed spear-head is generally recognised 

 as an especially Irish type. Evans refers to it (p. 435) as " the 

 ordinary Irish type." And Sir A. "W. Pranks, in the Description of 

 Plates in " Horae Ferales," remarks (p. 151) that spear-heads with 

 side-loops "are rather more common in Ireland than in England." 

 This opens up an interesting question as to whether the centre of 

 origin of this form of spear-head is to be placed in Ireland or in 

 the larger island. A greater number of examples of a particular 

 type might be accounted for on the supposition that the period 

 during which it prevailed was of longer duration in one country 

 than in another. But, apart from the fact that, so to speak, the 

 centre of gravity of the type appears to lie in Ireland, we are led 

 further than conjecture by the fact that the series of development 

 is more completely represented in Ireland than in Britain. No spear- 

 heads of the class I have called primitive have been found in England. 

 And Evans mentions but two of this class from Scotland, and one 

 from the Isle of Man. Further, of moulds for looped spear-heads 



