Armstrong — Soine Irish Bronze- Age Finds. 14 1 



it ; and two blown from the side. Tliese are figured (greatly reduced) in 

 Coffey's " Bronze Age " (the six trumpets on the lower left side of Plate X). 

 Three trumpets were found near Cloghoughter Castle, Co. Cavan ;' four in a 

 bog at Drumabest, Kilraughts, Co. Antrim, of which two are preserved in the 

 British Museum;- three at Carrick-O'Gunnell, Co. Limerick;' and thirteen 

 or fourteen near Cork in 1750.* In no case do trumpets seem to have been 

 found in association with other antiquities, except in the Dowris hoard. 



The cast trumpets appear to have originated in Ireland. If introduced 

 from outside, it ought to be possible to indicate other localities where similar 

 instruments have been found in large numbers. Failing this, we must pro- 

 visionally conclude the home of the type to be where have occurred the 

 greatest number of specimens, especially if they are elsewhere unfrequent or 

 unknown. 



The gourd-shaped bells, generally called crotals, contain a loose clapper 

 of stone or metal ; they emit little sound. They appear to have been cast 

 by pouring the metal into the mould through an opening in the side. The 

 mould seems to have been in two halves ; the rings and end staples being 

 cast together. To suggest a purpose for these bells is not easy. They seem 

 to vary in tone. Possibly they may have been intended for concerted use 

 on some kind of frame. The number of ribs with which they are ornamented 

 differs. Those with fourteen seem to have been cast in a single mould ; those 

 with twelve in another. One specimen (PL III) has vertical as well as 

 horizontal ribs. No specimens of these are known from other localities, either 

 Irish or continental. They are peculiar to this find. As will be seen from 

 the illustrations, they vary in size : some are pear-shaped ; others more 

 spherical. 



The Dowris hoard belongs to the latest period of the Bronze Age, 

 Montelius's fifth period. Though no trace of iron was discovered, the 

 presence of a bronze bucket-shaped cauldron of Italian derivation indicates 

 the find's transitional character. 



Montelius's^ date for the find extends from the middle of the twelfth to 

 the end of the ninth century B.C. Sir Arthur Evans's" dating would place 

 the cauldron, and consequently the associated objects, in the late Hallstatt 

 period, extending from the middle of the seventh to the end of the fifth 



1 Wilde, o^. cit., p. 626. 



2 Ibid. 



^ Ousley, Trans. Royal Irish Academy, ii, p. 3. 



* Wilde, op. cit., p. 624. 



5 " Archfeologia," Ixi, p. 162. 



° Proc. Society of Antiquaries of London, xxii, p. 128. 



