Fig. 138.—Bone Comb from Ardakillen.
Of combs, the most numerous specimens are from the crannogs of Ardakillen, Ballinderry, Lagore, and Cloonfinlough: in some, brass teeth have been substituted for those of bone that had given way, showing that, at the time the repairs were made, that metal was easily procured and worked. Strangely enough, the most usual decoration consists of a series of dot-and-circle patterns. The same style of ornamentation was observed upon many of the combs found in the lake habitations of Switzerland, and amongst the waifs of Roman settlements in Britain. In the remains of such articles, in Irish and in Scottish lacustrine sites, there is a striking resemblance; indeed the bone combs, figured in Munro’s work, are identical with many existing Irish examples. Although the material is usually bone, yet specimens formed of wood are not uncommon: the great majority of combs discovered in Irish crannogs are highly artistic in design—the handle portion sometimes presenting animal forms. Sir John Lubbock says: “It is somewhat remarkable that, while even in the stone period we find fair drawings of animals, yet in the latter part of the stone age, and throughout that of the bronze, they are almost entirely wanting, and the ornamentation is confined to various combinations of straight and curved lines and geometrical patterns;” and this he believes will eventually be found to imply “a difference of race between the populations of Western Europe at these different periods.”[133] The comb, [fig. 138], was procured from the crannog of Ardakillen, near Strokestown, county Roscommon. It is restored from the fragments, and in its original state was (as delineated) about 10 inches long, and 1¾ wide, it is now shrunk to a length of only 5½ inches. The toothed portions are in separate pieces, and by this contrivance the pectinated portion, if worn or broken, could easily be replaced. The comb, [fig. 139], is the finest specimen of its class preserved in the Museum, R. I. A., it is 2½ inches long, and 1¾ deep. The three pectinated portions are held together by flat sides, decorated with scrolls and circles. The top shows a triple openwork ornamentation: the side pieces are grooved at one end, for the purpose of receiving the clasp of a metal tooth placed in substitution of one that had been lost. [Fig. 140], of the same class, is a specimen of a short, one-sided, highly decorated comb, 2¼ inches long, by 1⅜ deep. It is formed out of a single piece of bone, is of graceful outline, and decorated upon the sides with a number of dotted lines and circles. The three elevated rivets projecting above the toothed portion, fastened metal plates which had been attached to the comb, either when it was originally made, or after it had been broken and mended.[134] [Fig. 141] is also formed out of a single piece of bone, ornamented with a dot-and-circle pattern; it was found in the same crannog. A third variety of comb, being double-toothed, is of a type so modern, that it seems to call for no special description.
Fig. 139.—Bone Comb from Ballinderry.
Fig. 140.—Bone Comb from Lagore.
