XVII.—On a votive deposit of Gold Objects found on the North-West Coast of Ireland

Arthur J. Evans Esq.

doi:10.1017/S0261340900014429

XVII.—On a votive deposit of Gold Objects found on the North-West Coast of Ireland

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 January 2012

Arthur J. Evans Esq.

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A remarkable hoard of gold objects was recently acquired by our Fellow Mr. Robert Day, of Cork, who has kindly allowed me to describe them and exhibit them to the Society. The objects were found together by a ploughman, who turned them up in sub-soiling, and the ploughshare somewhat injured the boat and bowl. The spot where the treasure was found is near the sea on the northwest coast of Ireland.

Type: Research Article
Information: Archaeologia , Volume 55 , Issue 2 , 1897 , pp. 391 - 408

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261340900014429 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1897

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^{page 392 note a} From Wilde's Catalogue, etc. i. 204, fig. 188, No. 3. The Society is indebted to the Royal Irish Academy for the loan of this illustration.

^{page 393 note a} T. Wright, Notes to Metrical Life of St. Brendan; quoted by Miss Stokes, Three Months in the Forests of France, p. xxxvii. In the introduction to this work (p. xxxiv. seqq.) much interesting information regarding ancient Irish ships and boats is collected, to which I am indebted.

^{page 393 note b} Cæsar, De Bello Civili, 1. c. 54, “Imperat militibus Cæsar ut naves faciant cuius generis eum superioribus annis usus Britanniæ docuerat. Carinæ primum et statumina ex levi materia fiebant; reliquum corpus navium viminibus contextum coriis integebatur.”

^{page 394 note a} Tomb. No. 86, Turner Fund Exploration, British Museum. A few Mycenæan objects were found in the inner chamber, and in a separate position a “woman and pitcher” vase of Ptolemaic date, otherwise the deposit seems to have belonged to the best period of classical art in the chamber. With the chain was found a gold ring engraved with a female head, belonging to the second half of the fifth century B.C.

^{page 395 note a} A. Furtwängler, Goldfund von Vettersfelde, 10, Taf. ii. fig. 3.

^{page 395 note b} Brit. Mus. 56, 8–26, 722.

^{page 395 note c} See for example Morel's La Champagne Souterraine, pl. xv. 7; xxix. 27; xl. 4.

^{page 395 note d} See Wissenschaftliche Mittheilungen aus Bosnien und der Herzegovina (Vienna, 1895), iii. 128Google Scholar, figs. 336, 337, 340, and 137, fig. 372. In these cases they are in double or treble rows with terminal rings, some with pendent ornament attached.

^{page 395 note e} Bianchetti, E., I sepolcreti di Ornavasso (Turin, 1895), 227, 228, tav. x. 6–10.Google Scholar

^{page 395 note f} Cf. op. cit. tav. xiv. 16–18.

^{page 395 note d} Mommsen, Die Nordetruskischen Alphabete, Taf. 1. 7, 8, pp. 202, 253; Meyer, Beschreibung der in der Schweiz aufgefundenen Gallischen Münzen, Taf. i. 1–5, pp. 1, 2. The legend of the Ornavasso coin is read D I K O I by Bianchetti. It seems probable, however, that it should be completed ↾ D I K O F = Prikou, a legend seen on gold coins of the same region, attributed by Mommsen to the Salassi. Mommsen (Op. cit. 253) regards the silver coins of this class as contemporary with the gold coins of the Salassi of the Val d' Aosta, which were struck on the Roman footing about 150 B.C., and the identity of inscription would be a corroboration of this view. The contents of the Ornavasso tombs themselves show that already before that date the Roman asses and denarii had become the usual currency of this part of Cisalpine Gaul.

^{page 396 note a} Dr. S. Jenny, Die Münzenfunde bei Lauterach. Mitth. d. Central Commission, &c. 1881, p. 87 seqq.

^{page 396 note b} See ante, p. 185.

^{page 397 note a} E. g. one from Plunton castle, Kirkcudbrightshire. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, xv. 331, fig. 28.

^{page 397 note b} The pin is wanting, but the fastening is thus described, he. cit.: “The armlet is formed of two curved plates of bronze, probably held together by a bronze pin or moveable joint to allow it to be opened and fixed on the forearm or wrist.”

^{page 397 note c} See ante, p. 179, fig. 1.

^{page 397 note d} See ante, p. 180.

^{page 398 note a} The fragmentary specimen weighs 1 oz. 10 dwt. 4 grs.

^{page 398 note b} See Weerth, E. Aus'm, Der Grabfund von Waldalgesheim (Bonn, 1870)Google Scholar, taf. i. fig. 4, p. 15; Lindenschmit, Alterthümer, &c. B. iii. H. i. T. I. i.

^{page 398 note c} Op. cit. taf. iii.

^{page 398 note d} In the British Museum, from the Payne Knight collection.

^{page 398 note e} The objects are in the British Museum.

^{page 398 note f} Of. Montelius, Les temps préhistoriques en Suède (traduction S. Reinach, 1895), 254, fig. 355.

^{page 399 note a} E. G. Morel, Champagne Souterraine, pl. xxi. 3; xxii. 6.

^{page 399 note b} The classical word torques as applied to the neck ornaments of the ancient Gauls does not necessarily imply that they were always twisted, though that is the original and etymological sense of the word.

^{page 400 note a} See J-P. Cros, “Mémoire sur des torques-oercles Gaulois trouvés a Serviés-en-Val (Aude),” in Mémoires de la Société Archéologique du Midi de la France, iv. 143 seqq. and pis. xvii. xviii. xix. whence the accompanying illustration (fig. 6) is reproduced. The torques are now in the museum at Toulouse.

^{page 400 note b} A certain analogy to this form of catch is presented by a gold twisted torque from Södermanland, Sweden, belonging to the Early Iron Age of Scandinavia (Montelius, Antiquités Suédoises, 103, fig. 343).

^{page 402 note a} A. W. Franks, Horœ Ferales, pl. xv. p. 190.

^{page 402 note b} Ibid. pl. xvi. p. 190.

^{page 403 note a} Compare an example in the British Museum.

^{page 403 note b} See especially J. Alexander Smith, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, xv. 316 seqq.

^{page 403 note c} Op. cit. xv. 362, fig. 31.

^{page 403 note d} Op. cit. xv. 318, fig. 1.

^{page 403 note e} See ante, pp. 190 seqq.

^{page 403 note f} Archaeologia, xlvii. pl. xxii. and p. 473 seqq.; Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, xxx. pl. xix. 2, and p. 290.

^{page 404 note a} J. Evans, “On some gold ornaments and Gaulish coins found together at Frasnes in Belgium,” Numismatic Chronicle, N.S iv. pl. v. p. 96 seqq.

^{page 407 note a} See above, p. 393.

^{page 408 note a} See J. Rhys, Lectures on Celtic Heathendom, 125 seqq. London itself was the Welsh Caer Lüđ

^{page 408 note b} See W. H. Bathurst and C. W. King, Roman Antiquities at Lydney Park, Gloucestershire.

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XVII.—On a votive deposit of Gold Objects found on the North-West Coast of Ireland

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