Plate VI.
Flint, Wood, and Bone Implements from Crannogs.
Fig. 16.
Axe-head of red-deer’s Horn from Lough Eyes. Quarter-size.
[Fig. 16], from Lough Eyes, represents the horn of a red-deer converted into a weapon; its weight is considerable, and there can be little doubt that it had served as a rude battle-axe; its broader end had been fined to a cutting edge, and a notch shows where a leathern thong or sinew was lashed for attachment of the axe-head to the handle into which it had been set in the manner of a stone or flint celt. This antler, together with the bone axe-head from Ballykillen, are the only specimens of that special class of weapon; but both spear-heads and daggers formed of bone have been found at Ardakillen, Ballinderry, and other crannogs. In the Swiss “Pfahlbauten” it was only the handle of the axe that was composed of horn, the cutting portion being flint or stone, inserted into the shaft at its thicker end.[86]
Swords, whether of bronze or iron, are almost invariably of small size, and double edged. There is usually a central rib to the blade, but in some instances fluting occurs. The ordinary crannog sword may be described generally as of two kinds, the one increasing in breadth from the handle to the end, which terminates in the form of a triangle; the other is shorter, with a broad straight-edged blade obtusely pointed. Their handles were composed of bone or horn, and sometimes wood was used. There was no hilt or guard, properly speaking, though the handle usually somewhat overlaps the edges of the blade, while it recedes in a curve tending in a direction opposite to that of the pommel.
