A fine pin, nearly 12 inches long, with a head of this shape, was found near Enniskillen. The upper part of the pin is ornamented, with groups of five small beadings round it, and between these are spiral ribs, forming many threaded screws alternately right- and left-handed.[1433]
A long pin from Galway,[1434] of which the lower part is twisted into a spiral, has a head with a notch in it, much like that of a modern screw.
| Fig. 457. Ireland. ½ | Fig. 458. Ireland. ½ | Fig. 459. Cambridge. ½ | Fig. 460. Ireland. ⅓ | Fig. 461. North of Ireland. ½ |
The pins with spherical heads, ornamented by circular holes, with concentric circles around them, so common in the Swiss Lake-dwellings, are as yet unknown in Britain. I have, nevertheless, a portion of what appears to be the large spherical head of a pin, which formed part of the hoard found at Dreuil, near Amiens. Instead of holes, however, it has bosses at intervals, with concentric circles round them. In the spaces between are bands of parallel dotted lines.[1435] Some of the Swiss pins have knobs of tin, or some other metal than bronze, and even red stones inlaid in the perforations, so that not improbably those which now show merely holes in the metal may have been inlaid with horn or some perishable material.
Pins with flat heads, sometimes of large size, are of not unfrequent occurrence, and appear to belong to the Bronze Age.
An Irish example with a small loop at the side is shown in Fig. 457, from a specimen in my own collection. It has apparently at some time been longer. Some German pins[1436] are provided with side loops in the same manner.
| Fig. 462. Keelogue Ford. ½ | Fig. 463. Ireland. ½ |
A large pin, 8⅛ inches, with the upper part beaded, and with a small side loop, was in the hoard found near Amiens, and is preserved in the museum of that town. With it were socketed celts, a sickle, &c.