Fig. 35.
There are in the Academy’s collection a number of spear-heads with rivet-holes in the sockets and ornamental side-apertures (figs. [33] and [34]). These spear-heads are very highly decorated, and form an attractive class. They may be derived from the spear-heads in which the loops are joined to the base of the blade (fig. [31]), and in which, by a process of evolution, the loop has been incorporated as part of the wing, or they may also have been influenced by the early type of tanged spear-heads from the Greek islands, in which the openings in the blade were functional, being used for binding the head into a split shaft. These ornamental spear-heads belong, as a type, to the British Islands, where the socketed spear-head itself appears to have been evolved. Several of these spear-heads have, as well as the wings, small holes in the blades, the purpose of which is not clear. They are very finely cast; and even in Ireland, where Bronze-Age casting reached its highest point, these are amongst its best products.
Fig. 36.—Spear-heads with
ornamental openings in the
blades.
Fig. 37.—Spear-head found
at Tempo, Co. Fermanagh.
