Fig. 523.—Lough Gur. ½
Fig. 524.—Campbelton. ½
A moiety of a stone mould for casting spear-heads of various sizes, and also pointed objects, “possibly,” though not probably, “arrow-heads,” was found at Lough Gur,[1692] Co. Limerick, and is now in the British Museum. It is a four-sided prism, 6½ inches long and 2½ inches broad at one end of each face, and 1¾ inch at the other. A second similar prism would, it has been observed, give four perfect moulds for casting spear-heads slightly varying in form, but in each case provided with side loops. These loops are as usual semicircular in form on the mould, and were no doubt destined to be flattened in the usual manner by a subsequent process of hammering. There is one special feature in this mould, viz. that at the base of the blade there is a transverse notch in the stone, evidently destined to receive a small pin, which would serve to keep the clay core for the socket in its proper position. There is a similar transverse notch in one of the smaller moulds for the pointed objects. This mould is shown in Fig. 523.
There is a similar notch in a mould for leaf-shaped spear-heads without loops in the Preusker Collection at Dresden. It would seem as if the pin which formed the hole for the rivet was also of use to support the core. Another such mould is in the museum at Modena.
There are similar notches in a stone mould for spear-heads, in one of burnt clay for socketed knives, found at Mœrigen, in the Lake of Bienne, and in one found in the Lake of Varese.[1693]
A small Irish mould for casting broad leaf-shaped lance-heads without loops is in the Antiquarian Museum at Edinburgh.
A mould of much the same character as the Irish examples was found near Campbelton,[1694] in Kintyre, Argyleshire. It is formed of dark serpentine, and one of its halves is shown in Fig. 524. On the same spot were found two polished stone celts and another stone mould for spear-heads, in two portions, also of serpentine, shown in Figs. 525 and 526, both sides being cut for moulds, one for a looped spear-head and the other for one without loops.
