Macalistku, &c. — Bronse-Af/e Cdrn-i mi CarrowJcrpl. o41 



It was discovered in " a subtei'ianeous cavern " neai' the town of Antiini, and a 

 number of flint arrow-heads and a stone celt are stated to have been found 

 with it.' The highly ornamented food-vessel of the Bronze Age was developed 

 from this type." The larger so-called cinerary urns belong to the later stages 

 of the Bronze Age. 



The pottery remains from the earns are, as a whole, in such a fragmentary 

 state that definite conclusions as to the number or type of urns cannot be 

 safely drawn. The pieces found in Carn G, and the portion of rim recovered 

 from Carn K, belong to vessels larger than the ordinary food-vessel type. 



The perfect specimen from Carn K is finely decorated ; it is comparatively 

 large, and its mouldings are numerous and well-pronounced ; it tapers to a 

 small base, and belongs to the food-vessel type (Plate XXV, fig. 2). 



The perfect urn from Carn belongs to a type of food-vessel which appears 

 to have lasted over a long period of the Bronze Age (Plate XXV, figs. 1 and 3). 

 The sort of cruciform ornament on the base may be compared with that upon the 

 base of the urn found in the carn on Belmore Mountain, Co. Fermanagh.^ This 

 carn, it may be noted, contained both burnt and unburnt burials, and the beads 

 and pendants found resembled closely those discovered in the Carrowkeel series. 



No Neolithic types of pottery appear to be present, and the earns so far 

 examined may all be placed in the Bronze Age. The perfect urns are finely 

 ornamented and well-shaped specimens, and hardly seem to belong to the 

 earliest portion of the Bronze Age, while the presence of the remains of larger 

 vessels points to a somewhat later period. The earns were, no doubt, used 

 over a long period, and, considering the large number of persons buried, it 

 cannot be doubted that many of the burials and objects placed with them 

 must differ in date. As, however, the objects, with the exception of the two 

 unbroken urns, were nearly all found among the burnt bones, it is impossible 

 to do more than indicate this difficulty, which is another reason for exercising 

 caution in attempting to date the earns. The earns themselves, and many of 

 the objects they contained, present close analogies to the Loughcrew series ; 

 and it may be noted that this group of earns further resembles those at 

 Loughcrew, in two of their number being cenotaphs. As far, therefore, as 

 can be judged from the pottery, and making all reservations on account of the 

 difficulty of forming conclusions as to the exact type of urns to which many 

 of the fragments belonged, the contents of the earns must be placed in the 

 Bronze Age. 



1 Catalogue B.I. A. Coll., vol. i, p. 184. 



- For an excellent discussion of the development of the food-vessel see Mr. E. A, Smith's Paper 

 on the Development of Neolithic Pottery, Archaeologia, vol. Ixii, p. 340. 



2 Proc. E.I. A., 3rd ser,, vol. iv, p. 66-t. ' ■ 



