Prehistoric Ireland
Encyclopedia
The prehistory of Ireland has been pieced together from archaeological
and genetic evidence; it begins with the first evidence of Mesolithic
hunter-gatherers settling in Ireland
around 7000 BC and finishes with the start of the historical record, around AD 400. The prehistoric
period covers the Mesolithic
, Neolithic
, Bronze Age
and Iron Age
societies of Ireland. For many Europe
an countries a historical record begins when the Romans
invaded; however, as Ireland was not invaded by the Romans its historical record starts later, with the coming of Christianity
.
During the Pleistocene
ice age
, ice sheets more than 3000 metres thick scoured the landscape of Ireland
, pulverizing rock and bone, and eradicating all evidence of early human settlements during the Glenavian warm period (human remains pre-dating the last glaciation have been uncovered in the extreme south of Britain
, which largely escaped the advancing ice sheets).
During the Last Glacial Maximum
(c. 16,000 BC
), Ireland was an Arctic wasteland, or tundra
. The Midland General Glaciation ('Midlandian period') which was originally thought to cover two thirds of the country with ice. Subsequent evidence from the past 50 years has shown this to be untrue and recent publications (Greenwood and Clark, 2009) suggests that ice went off the southern coast of Ireland. The early part of the Holocene had a climate that was inhospitable to most European animals and plants. Human occupation was unlikely, though fishing possible.
During the period between 15,500 and 10,000 BC a warming trend and a cool period allowed the rehabitation of northern areas of Europe by nomadic hunter gatherers. Genetic evidence suggests this reoccupation began in southwestern Europe and faunal remains suggest a refugia in Iberia
that extended up into Southern France. The original attraction to the north during the pre-boreal period
would be species like Reindeer
and Aurochs
. Some sites as far north as Sweden >10,000 years ago suggest that humans might have used glacial termini
as places from which they hunted migratory game.
These factors and ecology change brought humans to the edge of European northern-most ice free zones by the onset of the holocene
and this included regions close to Ireland.
There is no evidence that humans occupied Ireland at this time, but on the eastern side of the Irish Sea one site dated to the 11th millennium BC was discovered that indicated people were in the area eating a marine diet including shellfish. It is possible that humans did occupy the region but found few resources outside of coastal shellfishing and acorns and did not continually occupy the region.
As the northern glacier retreated, so did sea levels rise with water draining into an inland sea where the Irish Sea
currently stands; the outflow of freshwater and eventual rise in sea level between the Irish and Celtic Seas inhibited the entry of flora and fauna from Europe via Britain.
about 10,000 BC. The earliest evidence of human occupation after the retreat of the ice has been dated to around 8000 BC
. Evidence for Mesolithic
hunter-gatherers have been found throughout the country: a number of the key Early Mesolithic excavations are the settlement site at Mount Sandel
in County Londonderry
(Coleraine); the cremations at Hermitage, County Limerick
on the bank of the River Shannon
; and the camp site at Lough Boora in County Offaly
. As well as these, Early Mesolithic lithic scatters have been noted around the country, from the north in County Donegal
to the south in County Cork
. It is thought that these settlers first colonized the northeast of the country from Scotland
. Although sea levels were still lower than they are today, Ireland may already have been an island by the time the first settlers arrived by boat. Most of the Mesolithic sites in Ireland are coastal settlements. The earliest inhabitants of this country were seafarers who depended for much of their livelihood upon the sea.
The hunter-gatherers of the Mesolithic era lived on a varied diet of seafood, birds, wild boar and hazelnuts. There is no evidence for deer in the Irish Mesolithic and it is likely that the first red deer were introduced here in the early stages of the Neolithic. The human population hunted with spears, arrows and harpoons tipped with small stone blades called microliths, while supplementing their diet with gathered nuts, fruit and berries. They lived in seasonal shelters, which they constructed by stretching animal skins over wooden frames. They had outdoor hearths for cooking their food. During the Mesolithic the population of Ireland was probably never more than a few thousand.
with a 'package' of cereal
cultivars, pastoral animals (domesticated Oxen-Cattle, Sheep, Goats), pottery, housing and burial cultures, that arrive simultaneously, a process that begins in central Europe as LBK (Linear Pottery culture
) about 6000 BC within several hundred years this culture is observed in Northern France. An alternative neolithic culture, La Hoguette
culture, that arrived in France's western region appears to be a derivative of the Ibero Italian-Eastern Adriatic Impressed Cardial Ware culture (Cardium Pottery
). The La Hoguette culture, like the western Cardial culture, more intensely raised sheep and goats. By 5100 BC there is evidence of dairy practices in S. England and modern English cattle appear to be derived from "T1 Taurids" that were domesticated in the Aegean region shortly after the onset of the Holocene
. These animals were probably derived from the LBK cattle. Around 4300 BC cattle arrived in northern Ireland during the late mesolithic period, followed by Red Deer.
From around 4500 BC a Neolithic package that included cereal cultivars, housing culture (similar to those of the same period in Scotland) and stone monuments arrived in Ireland. Sheep, goats, cattle and cereals were imported from southwest continental Europe, and the population then rose significantly. At the Céide Fields
in County Mayo
, an extensive Neolithic field system – arguably the oldest known in the world – has been preserved beneath a blanket of peat
. Consisting of small fields separated from one another by dry-stone walls, the Céide Fields were farmed for several centuries between 3500 and 3000 BC. Wheat and barley were the principal crops cultivated. Pottery made its appearance around the same time as agriculture. Ware similar to that found in northern Britain has been excavated in Ulster
(Lyle's Hill pottery) and in Limerick
. Typical of this ware are wide-mouthed, round-bottomed bowls.
This follows a pattern similar to Western Europe or gradual onset of Neolithic, such as seen in La Hoguette Culture of France and Iberia's Impressed Cardial Ware Culture. Cereal culture advance markedly slows north of France, certain cereal strains such as wheat were difficult to grow in cold climates, however barley and German rye were suitable replacements. It can be speculated that the DQ2.5 aspect of the AH8.1 haplotype may have been involved in the slowing of cereal culture into Ireland, Scotland and Scandinavia since this haplotype confers susceptibility to a Triticeae
protein induced disease as well as Type I Diabetes and other autoimmune diseases that may have arisen as an indirect result of Neolithization.
The most striking characteristic of the Neolithic in Ireland was the sudden appearance and dramatic proliferation of megalithic monuments. The largest of these tombs were clearly places of religious and ceremonial importance to the Neolithic population. In most of the tombs that have been excavated human remains – usually, but not always, cremated – have been found. Grave goods – pottery, arrowheads, beads, pendants, axes, etc. – have also been uncovered. These megalithic tombs, more than 1,200 of which are now known, can be divided for the most part into four broad groups:
The theory that these four groups of monuments were associated with four separate waves of invading colonists still has its adherents today, but the growth in population that made them possible need not have been the result of colonisation: it may simply have been the natural consequence of the introduction of agriculture.
Some regions of Ireland showed patterns of pastoralism that indicated that some Neolithic peoples continued to move and indicates that pastoral activities dominated agrarian activities in many regions or that there was a division of labour between pastoral and agrarian aspects of the Neolithic.
At the height of the Neolithic the population of the island was probably in excess of 100,000, and perhaps as high as 200,000. But there appears to have been an economic collapse around 2500 BC
, and the population declined for a while.
People, from their characteristic pottery, in the shape of an inverted bell. This was quite different from the finely made, round-bottomed pottery of the Neolithic. It is found, for example, at Ross Island
, and associated with copper-mining there. It is thought to be associated with the first appearance of Celtic
-speaking Indo-Europeans
in Europe.
The Bronze Age
began once copper
was alloy
ed with tin
to produce true Bronze artifacts, and this took place around 2000 BC, when some Ballybeg
flat axes and associated metalwork were produced. The period preceding this, in which Lough Ravel and most Ballybeg axes were produced, and which is known as the Copper Age
or Chalcolithic, commenced about 2500 BC.
Bronze was used for the manufacture of both weapons and tools. Swords, axes, daggers, hatchets, halberds, awls, drinking utensils and horn-shaped trumpets are just some of the items that have been unearthed at Bronze Age
sites. Irish craftsmen became particularly noted for the horn-shaped trumpet, which was made by the cire perdue, or lost wax, process.
Copper used in the manufacture of bronze was mined in Ireland, chiefly in the southwest of the country, while the tin was imported from Cornwall
in Britain. The earliest known copper mine in these islands was located at Ross Island, at the Lakes of Killarney
in County Kerry
; mining and metalworking took place there between 2400
and 1800 BC
. Another of Europe’s best-preserved copper mines has been discovered at Mount Gabriel in County Cork
, which was worked for several centuries in the middle of the second millennium. Mines in Cork and Kerry are believed to have produced as much as 370 tonnes of copper during the Bronze Age. As only about 0.2% of this can be accounted for in excavated bronze artifacts, it is surmised that Ireland was a major exporter of copper during this period.
Ireland was also rich in native gold
, and the Bronze Age saw the first extensive working of this precious metal by Irish craftsmen. More Bronze Age gold hoards have been discovered in Ireland than anywhere else in Europe. Irish gold ornaments have been found as far afield as Germany
and Scandinavia
. In the early stages of the Bronze Age these ornaments consisted of rather simple crescents and disks of thin gold sheet. Later the familiar Irish torque made its appearance; this was a collar consisting of a bar or ribbon of metal, twisted into a screw and then bent into a loop. Gold earrings, sun disks and lunulas (crescent “moon disks” worn around the neck) were also made in Ireland during the Bronze Age.
Smaller wedge tombs continued to be built throughout the Bronze Age, and while the previous tradition of large scale monument building was much reduced, existing earlier megalithic monuments continued in use in the form of secondary insertions of funerary and ritual artefacts. Towards the end of the Bronze Age the single-grave cist made its appearance. This consisted of a small rectangular stone chest, covered with a stone slab and buried a short distance below the surface. Numerous stone circles were also erected at this time, chiefly in Ulster and Munster.
During the Bronze Age, the climate of Ireland deteriorated and extensive deforestation took place. The population of Ireland at the end of the Bronze Age was probably in excess of 100,000, and may have been as high as 200,000. It is possible that it was not much greater than it had been at the height of the Neolithic. In Ireland the Bronze Age lasted until c. 500BC, later than the Continent and also Britain.
began around 500 BC and continued until the Christian era in Ireland, which brought some written records and therefore the end of prehistoric Ireland. The Iron Age includes the period in which the Romans
ruled the neighbouring island of Britain
. Roman interest in the area led to some of the earliest written evidence about Ireland. The names of its tribes were recorded by the geographer Ptolemy in the 2nd century. These names were Celtic.
The Celtic languages
of Britain and Ireland can be divided into two groups: P-Celtic
and Q-Celtic
. When written records first appeared in the fifth century, Gaelic or Goidelic
(a Q-Celtic language) was found in Ireland, while Brythonic
(a P-Celtic language) was found in Britain.
The recorded Celtic tribes of Ireland included the Brigantes
, a name which also belonged to the largest tribe of northern and midland Britain. Another tribe by the 2nd century AD was the Manapii, possibly the same people as the Menapii
, a Belgic tribe of northern Gaul
.
The late Iron Age saw sizeable changes in human activity. Thomas Charles-Edwards
coined the phrase "Irish Dark Age" to refer to a period of apparent economic and cultural stagnation in late pre-historic Ireland, lasting from c. 100 B.C. to c. 300 A.D. Pollen data
extracted from Irish bog
s indicates that "the impact of human activity upon the flora around the bogs from which the pollen came was less between c. 200 BC and c. 300 AD than either before or after.". The third and fourth centuries saw a rapid recovery. The reasons for the decline and recovery are uncertain, but it has been suggested that recovery may be linked to the purported "Golden Age" of Roman Britain
in the third and fourth centuries. The archaeological evidence for trade with, or raids on, Roman Britain is strongest in northern Leinster
, centred on modern County Dublin
, followed by the coast of County Antrim
, with lesser concentrations in the Rosses
on the north coast of County Donegal
and around Carlingford Lough
. Inhumation burials may also have spread from Roman Britain, and had become common in Ireland by the fourth and fifth centuries.
Examples from Iron Age Ireland of La Tène style, the term for Iron Age Celtic art
are very few, to a "puzzling" extent, although some of these are of very high quality, such as a number of scabbards from Ulster and the Petrie Crown. Despite this it was in Ireland that the style seemed to revive in the Early Christian period, to form the Insular art
of the Book of Kells
and other well-known masterpieces, perhaps under influence from Late Roman and post-Roman Romano-British
styles. The 1st century BC Broighter Gold
hoard, from Ulster, includes a small model boat, a spectacular torc
with relief decoration influenced by classical style, and other gold jewellery probably imported from the Roman world, perhaps as far away as Alexandria
.
It was also during this time that some protohistoric
records begin to appear.
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
and genetic evidence; it begins with the first evidence of Mesolithic
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....
hunter-gatherers settling in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
around 7000 BC and finishes with the start of the historical record, around AD 400. The prehistoric
Prehistory
Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
period covers the Mesolithic
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....
, Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
, Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
and Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
societies of Ireland. For many Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an countries a historical record begins when the Romans
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
invaded; however, as Ireland was not invaded by the Romans its historical record starts later, with the coming of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
.
Pleistocene ice age
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
ice age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
, ice sheets more than 3000 metres thick scoured the landscape of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, pulverizing rock and bone, and eradicating all evidence of early human settlements during the Glenavian warm period (human remains pre-dating the last glaciation have been uncovered in the extreme south of Britain
Prehistoric Britain
For the purposes of this article, Prehistoric Britain is that period of time between the first arrival of humans on the land mass now known as Great Britain and the start of recorded British history...
, which largely escaped the advancing ice sheets).
During the Last Glacial Maximum
Last Glacial Maximum
The Last Glacial Maximum refers to a period in the Earth's climate history when ice sheets were at their maximum extension, between 26,500 and 19,000–20,000 years ago, marking the peak of the last glacial period. During this time, vast ice sheets covered much of North America, northern Europe and...
(c. 16,000 BC
Paleolithic
The Paleolithic Age, Era or Period, is a prehistoric period of human history distinguished by the development of the most primitive stone tools discovered , and covers roughly 99% of human technological prehistory...
), Ireland was an Arctic wasteland, or tundra
Tundra
In physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr "uplands," "treeless mountain tract." There are three types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine...
. The Midland General Glaciation ('Midlandian period') which was originally thought to cover two thirds of the country with ice. Subsequent evidence from the past 50 years has shown this to be untrue and recent publications (Greenwood and Clark, 2009) suggests that ice went off the southern coast of Ireland. The early part of the Holocene had a climate that was inhospitable to most European animals and plants. Human occupation was unlikely, though fishing possible.
During the period between 15,500 and 10,000 BC a warming trend and a cool period allowed the rehabitation of northern areas of Europe by nomadic hunter gatherers. Genetic evidence suggests this reoccupation began in southwestern Europe and faunal remains suggest a refugia in Iberia
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
that extended up into Southern France. The original attraction to the north during the pre-boreal period
Boreal (period)
In paleoclimatology of the Holocene, the Boreal was the first of the Blytt-Sernander sequence of north European climatic phases that were originally based on the study of Danish peat bogs, named for Axel Blytt and Rutger Sernander, who first established the sequence. In peat bog sediments, the...
would be species like Reindeer
Reindeer
The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...
and Aurochs
Aurochs
The aurochs , the ancestor of domestic cattle, were a type of large wild cattle which inhabited Europe, Asia and North Africa, but is now extinct; it survived in Europe until 1627....
. Some sites as far north as Sweden >10,000 years ago suggest that humans might have used glacial termini
Glacier terminus
A glacier terminus, or snout, is the end of a glacier at any given point in time. Although glaciers seem motionless to the observer, in reality glaciers are in endless motion and the glacier terminus is always either advancing or retreating...
as places from which they hunted migratory game.
These factors and ecology change brought humans to the edge of European northern-most ice free zones by the onset of the holocene
Holocene
The Holocene is a geological epoch which began at the end of the Pleistocene and continues to the present. The Holocene is part of the Quaternary period. Its name comes from the Greek words and , meaning "entirely recent"...
and this included regions close to Ireland.
There is no evidence that humans occupied Ireland at this time, but on the eastern side of the Irish Sea one site dated to the 11th millennium BC was discovered that indicated people were in the area eating a marine diet including shellfish. It is possible that humans did occupy the region but found few resources outside of coastal shellfishing and acorns and did not continually occupy the region.
As the northern glacier retreated, so did sea levels rise with water draining into an inland sea where the Irish Sea
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...
currently stands; the outflow of freshwater and eventual rise in sea level between the Irish and Celtic Seas inhibited the entry of flora and fauna from Europe via Britain.
Mesolithic (8000–4000 BC)
The last Ice Age came to an end in IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
about 10,000 BC. The earliest evidence of human occupation after the retreat of the ice has been dated to around 8000 BC
8th millennium BC
In the 8th millennium BC, agriculture became widely practised in the Fertile Crescent and Anatolia.Pottery became widespread and animal husbandry spread to Africa and Eurasia. World population was approximately 5 million.-Events:*c. 8000 BC—The last glacial period ends.*c...
. Evidence for Mesolithic
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....
hunter-gatherers have been found throughout the country: a number of the key Early Mesolithic excavations are the settlement site at Mount Sandel
Mount Sandel Mesolithic site
Mount Sandel Mesolithic site is situated in Coleraine, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, just to the east of the iron age Mount Sandel Fort. It is the oldest archaeological site in Ireland. Mount Sandel Mesolithic site is a Scheduled Historic Monument in the townland of Mount Sandel, in...
in County Londonderry
County Londonderry
The place name Derry is an anglicisation of the old Irish Daire meaning oak-grove or oak-wood. As with the city, its name is subject to the Derry/Londonderry name dispute, with the form Derry preferred by nationalists and Londonderry preferred by unionists...
(Coleraine); the cremations at Hermitage, County Limerick
County Limerick
It is thought that humans had established themselves in the Lough Gur area of the county as early as 3000 BC, while megalithic remains found at Duntryleague date back further to 3500 BC...
on the bank of the River Shannon
River Shannon
The River Shannon is the longest river in Ireland at . It divides the west of Ireland from the east and south . County Clare, being west of the Shannon but part of the province of Munster, is the major exception...
; and the camp site at Lough Boora in County Offaly
County Offaly
County Offaly is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Midlands Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe and was formerly known as King's County until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. Offaly County Council is...
. As well as these, Early Mesolithic lithic scatters have been noted around the country, from the north in County Donegal
County Donegal
County Donegal is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal. Donegal County Council is the local authority for the county...
to the south in County Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
. It is thought that these settlers first colonized the northeast of the country from Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. Although sea levels were still lower than they are today, Ireland may already have been an island by the time the first settlers arrived by boat. Most of the Mesolithic sites in Ireland are coastal settlements. The earliest inhabitants of this country were seafarers who depended for much of their livelihood upon the sea.
The hunter-gatherers of the Mesolithic era lived on a varied diet of seafood, birds, wild boar and hazelnuts. There is no evidence for deer in the Irish Mesolithic and it is likely that the first red deer were introduced here in the early stages of the Neolithic. The human population hunted with spears, arrows and harpoons tipped with small stone blades called microliths, while supplementing their diet with gathered nuts, fruit and berries. They lived in seasonal shelters, which they constructed by stretching animal skins over wooden frames. They had outdoor hearths for cooking their food. During the Mesolithic the population of Ireland was probably never more than a few thousand.
- Also See Irish MesolithicIrish Mesolithic- Chronology & Technology :Ireland’s Later Mesolithic period begins sometime between 7000 BC and 6000 BC with the occurrence of a pan-Ireland and Isle of Man macrolithic stone tool tradition: no transitional industry has yet been identified that bridges the gap between this industry and the Early...
Neolithic (4000–2500 BC)
Many areas of Europe entered the NeolithicNeolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
with a 'package' of cereal
Cereal
Cereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran...
cultivars, pastoral animals (domesticated Oxen-Cattle, Sheep, Goats), pottery, housing and burial cultures, that arrive simultaneously, a process that begins in central Europe as LBK (Linear Pottery culture
Linear Pottery culture
The Linear Pottery culture is a major archaeological horizon of the European Neolithic, flourishing ca. 5500–4500 BC.It is abbreviated as LBK , is also known as the Linear Band Ware, Linear Ware, Linear Ceramics or Incised Ware culture, and falls within the Danubian I culture of V...
) about 6000 BC within several hundred years this culture is observed in Northern France. An alternative neolithic culture, La Hoguette
La Hoguette
-Personalities:La Hoguette was the birthplace of Georges Marchais , head of the French Communist Party.-External links:* La Hoguette...
culture, that arrived in France's western region appears to be a derivative of the Ibero Italian-Eastern Adriatic Impressed Cardial Ware culture (Cardium Pottery
Cardium Pottery
Cardium Pottery or Cardial Ware is a Neolithic decorative style that gets its name from the imprinting of the clay with the shell of the Cardium edulis, a marine mollusk...
). The La Hoguette culture, like the western Cardial culture, more intensely raised sheep and goats. By 5100 BC there is evidence of dairy practices in S. England and modern English cattle appear to be derived from "T1 Taurids" that were domesticated in the Aegean region shortly after the onset of the Holocene
Holocene
The Holocene is a geological epoch which began at the end of the Pleistocene and continues to the present. The Holocene is part of the Quaternary period. Its name comes from the Greek words and , meaning "entirely recent"...
. These animals were probably derived from the LBK cattle. Around 4300 BC cattle arrived in northern Ireland during the late mesolithic period, followed by Red Deer.
From around 4500 BC a Neolithic package that included cereal cultivars, housing culture (similar to those of the same period in Scotland) and stone monuments arrived in Ireland. Sheep, goats, cattle and cereals were imported from southwest continental Europe, and the population then rose significantly. At the Céide Fields
Céide Fields
The Céide Fields is an archaeological site on the north Mayo coast in the west of Ireland, about 8 kilometres northwest of Ballycastle. The site is the most extensive Stone Age site in the world and contains the oldest known field systems in the world...
in County Mayo
County Mayo
County Mayo is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Mayo, which is now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 130,552...
, an extensive Neolithic field system – arguably the oldest known in the world – has been preserved beneath a blanket of peat
Peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...
. Consisting of small fields separated from one another by dry-stone walls, the Céide Fields were farmed for several centuries between 3500 and 3000 BC. Wheat and barley were the principal crops cultivated. Pottery made its appearance around the same time as agriculture. Ware similar to that found in northern Britain has been excavated in Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
(Lyle's Hill pottery) and in Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
. Typical of this ware are wide-mouthed, round-bottomed bowls.
This follows a pattern similar to Western Europe or gradual onset of Neolithic, such as seen in La Hoguette Culture of France and Iberia's Impressed Cardial Ware Culture. Cereal culture advance markedly slows north of France, certain cereal strains such as wheat were difficult to grow in cold climates, however barley and German rye were suitable replacements. It can be speculated that the DQ2.5 aspect of the AH8.1 haplotype may have been involved in the slowing of cereal culture into Ireland, Scotland and Scandinavia since this haplotype confers susceptibility to a Triticeae
Triticeae
Triticeae is a tribe within the Pooideae subfamily of grasses that includes genera with many domesticated species. Major crop genera are found in this tribe including wheat , barley, and rye; crops in other genera include some for human consumption and others used for animal feed or rangeland...
protein induced disease as well as Type I Diabetes and other autoimmune diseases that may have arisen as an indirect result of Neolithization.
The most striking characteristic of the Neolithic in Ireland was the sudden appearance and dramatic proliferation of megalithic monuments. The largest of these tombs were clearly places of religious and ceremonial importance to the Neolithic population. In most of the tombs that have been excavated human remains – usually, but not always, cremated – have been found. Grave goods – pottery, arrowheads, beads, pendants, axes, etc. – have also been uncovered. These megalithic tombs, more than 1,200 of which are now known, can be divided for the most part into four broad groups:
- Court tombCourt cairnThe court cairn or court tomb is a megalithic type of chamber tomb and gallery grave, specifically a variant of the chambered cairn, found in western and northern Ireland, and in mostly southwest Scotland...
s – These are characterised by the presence of an entrance courtyard. They are found almost exclusively in the north of the country and are thought to include the oldest specimens. North Mayo has many examples of this type of megalith – FaulaghFaulaghFaulagh is a townland in Kilcommon, Erris, County Mayo, Ireland, some in size. It's a remote spot on the main Ballycastle to Belmullet road. Faulagh and its neighbouring townland Muingerroon South are located on a mountain which skirts the townland of Bellanaboy where the contentious Corrib Gas...
, KilcommonKilcommonKilcommon is a civil parish in Erris, north Mayo consisting of two large peninsulas; Dún Chaocháin and Dún Chiortáin. It consists of 37 townlands, some of which are so remote that they have no inhabitants...
, ErrisErrisErris is a barony in northwestern County Mayo in Ireland consisting of over , much of which is mountainous blanket bog. It has extensive sea coasts along its west and north boundaries. The main towns are Belmullet and Bangor Erris. The name Erris derives from the Irish 'Iar Ros' meaning 'western...
. - Passage tombs – These constitute the smallest group in terms of numbers, but they are the most impressive in terms of size and importance. They are distributed mainly throughout the north and east of the country, the biggest and most impressive of them being found in the four great Neolithic “cemeteries” of the Boyne, Loughcrew (both in County MeathCounty MeathCounty Meath is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Mide . Meath County Council is the local authority for the county...
), Carrowkeel and Carrowmore (both in County SligoSligoSligo is the county town of County Sligo in Ireland. The town is a borough and has a charter and a town mayor. It is sometimes referred to as a city, and sometimes as a town, and is the second largest urban area in Connacht...
). The most famous of them is NewgrangeNewgrangeNewgrange is a prehistoric monument located in County Meath, on the eastern side of Ireland, about one kilometre north of the River Boyne. It was built around 3200 BC , during the Neolithic period...
, a World Heritage SiteWorld Heritage SiteA UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
and one of the oldest astronomically aligned monuments in the world. It was built around 3200 BC32nd century BC-Events:* c. 3150 BC: Narmer started to rule in Ancient Egypt.* c. 3125 BC: Narmer died.* 3102 BC: The Beginning of Kali Yuga according to Vedic Scriptures....
. At the Winter SolsticeWinter solsticeWinter solstice may refer to:* Winter solstice, astronomical event* Winter Solstice , former band* Winter Solstice: North , seasonal songs* Winter Solstice , 2005 American film...
the first rays of the rising sun still shine through a light-box above the entrance to the tomb and illuminate the burial chamber at the centre of the monument. Another of the Boyne megaliths, Knowth, contains the world’s earliest map of the moon carved into stone. - Portal tombs – These tombs include the well known “dolmenDolmenA dolmen—also known as a portal tomb, portal grave, dolmain , cromlech , anta , Hünengrab/Hünenbett , Adamra , Ispun , Hunebed , dös , goindol or quoit—is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of...
s.” They consist of three or more upright stones supporting a large flat horizontal capstone (table). Most of them are to be found in two main concentrations, one in the southeast of the country and one in the north. The Knockeen and Gaulstown Dolmens in County Waterford are exceptional examples. - Wedge tombWedge-shaped gallery graveA wedge-shaped gallery grave or wedge tomb is a type of Irish chamber tomb. They are so named because the burial chamber itself narrows at one end , producing a wedge shape in elevation. An antechamber is separated from the burial area by a simple jamb or sill, and the doorway generally faces west...
s – The largest and most widespread of the four groups, the wedge tombs are particularly common in the west and southwest. County ClareCounty Clare-History:There was a Neolithic civilisation in the Clare area — the name of the peoples is unknown, but the Prehistoric peoples left evidence behind in the form of ancient dolmen; single-chamber megalithic tombs, usually consisting of three or more upright stones...
is exceptionally rich in them. They are the latest of the four types and belong to the end of the Neolithic. They are so called from their wedge-shaped burial chambers.
The theory that these four groups of monuments were associated with four separate waves of invading colonists still has its adherents today, but the growth in population that made them possible need not have been the result of colonisation: it may simply have been the natural consequence of the introduction of agriculture.
Some regions of Ireland showed patterns of pastoralism that indicated that some Neolithic peoples continued to move and indicates that pastoral activities dominated agrarian activities in many regions or that there was a division of labour between pastoral and agrarian aspects of the Neolithic.
At the height of the Neolithic the population of the island was probably in excess of 100,000, and perhaps as high as 200,000. But there appears to have been an economic collapse around 2500 BC
25th century BC
The 25th century BC is a century which lasted from the year 2500 BCE to 2401 BCE.-Events:*c. 2900 BCE – 2334 BCE: Mesopotamian wars of the Early Dynastic period.*c. 2500 BCE: Rice was first introduced to Malaysia...
, and the population declined for a while.
Copper and Bronze Ages (2500–500 BC)
Metallurgy arrived in Ireland with new people, generally known as the Bell BeakerBeaker culture
The Bell-Beaker culture , ca. 2400 – 1800 BC, is the term for a widely scattered cultural phenomenon of prehistoric western Europe starting in the late Neolithic or Chalcolithic running into the early Bronze Age...
People, from their characteristic pottery, in the shape of an inverted bell. This was quite different from the finely made, round-bottomed pottery of the Neolithic. It is found, for example, at Ross Island
Ross Island, Killarney
Ross Island is a claw-shaped peninsula in Killarney National Park, County Kerry. Copper extraction on the site is believed to be the source of the earliest known Irish Pre-Bronze Age metalwork, namely copper axe heads, halberds and knife/dagger blades dating from 2,400 - 2,200 BC...
, and associated with copper-mining there. It is thought to be associated with the first appearance of Celtic
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
-speaking Indo-Europeans
Proto-Indo-Europeans
The Proto-Indo-Europeans were the speakers of the Proto-Indo-European language , a reconstructed prehistoric language of Eurasia.Knowledge of them comes chiefly from the linguistic reconstruction, along with material evidence from archaeology and archaeogenetics...
in Europe.
The Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
began once copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
was alloy
Alloy
An alloy is a mixture or metallic solid solution composed of two or more elements. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may or may not be homogeneous in distribution, depending on thermal history...
ed with tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
to produce true Bronze artifacts, and this took place around 2000 BC, when some Ballybeg
Ballybeg
Ballybeg is a generic name given to small Irish towns. The name comes from the Gaelic words Baile Beag which literally means Little Town...
flat axes and associated metalwork were produced. The period preceding this, in which Lough Ravel and most Ballybeg axes were produced, and which is known as the Copper Age
Copper Age
The Chalcolithic |stone]]") period or Copper Age, also known as the Eneolithic/Æneolithic , is a phase of the Bronze Age in which the addition of tin to copper to form bronze during smelting remained yet unknown by the metallurgists of the times...
or Chalcolithic, commenced about 2500 BC.
Bronze was used for the manufacture of both weapons and tools. Swords, axes, daggers, hatchets, halberds, awls, drinking utensils and horn-shaped trumpets are just some of the items that have been unearthed at Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
sites. Irish craftsmen became particularly noted for the horn-shaped trumpet, which was made by the cire perdue, or lost wax, process.
Copper used in the manufacture of bronze was mined in Ireland, chiefly in the southwest of the country, while the tin was imported from Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
in Britain. The earliest known copper mine in these islands was located at Ross Island, at the Lakes of Killarney
Lakes of Killarney
The Lakes of Killarney are a renowned scenic attraction located near Killarney, County Kerry, in Ireland. They consist of three lakes - Lough Leane, Muckross Lake and Upper Lake.Lough Leane is the largest of the three lakes...
in County Kerry
County Kerry
Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...
; mining and metalworking took place there between 2400
24th century BC
The 24th century BC is a century which lasted from the year 2400 BC to 2301 BC.-Events:*c. 2900 BC – 2334 BC: Mesopotamian wars of the Early Dynastic period continue.*c. 2360 BC: Hekla-4 eruption....
and 1800 BC
19th century BC
-Events:* Hittite empire in Hattusa, Anatolia.* 1900 BC: Proto-Greek invasions of Greece.* c. 1900 BC: Minoan Old Palace period starts in Crete.* c. 1900 BC: Fall of last Sumerian dynasty....
. Another of Europe’s best-preserved copper mines has been discovered at Mount Gabriel in County Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
, which was worked for several centuries in the middle of the second millennium. Mines in Cork and Kerry are believed to have produced as much as 370 tonnes of copper during the Bronze Age. As only about 0.2% of this can be accounted for in excavated bronze artifacts, it is surmised that Ireland was a major exporter of copper during this period.
Ireland was also rich in native gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, and the Bronze Age saw the first extensive working of this precious metal by Irish craftsmen. More Bronze Age gold hoards have been discovered in Ireland than anywhere else in Europe. Irish gold ornaments have been found as far afield as Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
. In the early stages of the Bronze Age these ornaments consisted of rather simple crescents and disks of thin gold sheet. Later the familiar Irish torque made its appearance; this was a collar consisting of a bar or ribbon of metal, twisted into a screw and then bent into a loop. Gold earrings, sun disks and lunulas (crescent “moon disks” worn around the neck) were also made in Ireland during the Bronze Age.
Smaller wedge tombs continued to be built throughout the Bronze Age, and while the previous tradition of large scale monument building was much reduced, existing earlier megalithic monuments continued in use in the form of secondary insertions of funerary and ritual artefacts. Towards the end of the Bronze Age the single-grave cist made its appearance. This consisted of a small rectangular stone chest, covered with a stone slab and buried a short distance below the surface. Numerous stone circles were also erected at this time, chiefly in Ulster and Munster.
During the Bronze Age, the climate of Ireland deteriorated and extensive deforestation took place. The population of Ireland at the end of the Bronze Age was probably in excess of 100,000, and may have been as high as 200,000. It is possible that it was not much greater than it had been at the height of the Neolithic. In Ireland the Bronze Age lasted until c. 500BC, later than the Continent and also Britain.
Iron Age (500 BC – 400 AD)
The Irish Iron AgeIron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
began around 500 BC and continued until the Christian era in Ireland, which brought some written records and therefore the end of prehistoric Ireland. The Iron Age includes the period in which the Romans
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
ruled the neighbouring island of Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
. Roman interest in the area led to some of the earliest written evidence about Ireland. The names of its tribes were recorded by the geographer Ptolemy in the 2nd century. These names were Celtic.
The Celtic languages
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
of Britain and Ireland can be divided into two groups: P-Celtic
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
and Q-Celtic
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
. When written records first appeared in the fifth century, Gaelic or Goidelic
Goidelic languages
The Goidelic languages or Gaelic languages are one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic languages, the other consisting of the Brythonic languages. Goidelic languages historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from the south of Ireland through the Isle of Man to the north of Scotland...
(a Q-Celtic language) was found in Ireland, while Brythonic
Brythonic languages
The Brythonic or Brittonic languages form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family, the other being Goidelic. The name Brythonic was derived by Welsh Celticist John Rhys from the Welsh word Brython, meaning an indigenous Briton as opposed to an Anglo-Saxon or Gael...
(a P-Celtic language) was found in Britain.
The recorded Celtic tribes of Ireland included the Brigantes
Brigantes
The Brigantes were a Celtic tribe who in pre-Roman times controlled the largest section of what would become Northern England, and a significant part of the Midlands. Their kingdom is sometimes called Brigantia, and it was centred in what was later known as Yorkshire...
, a name which also belonged to the largest tribe of northern and midland Britain. Another tribe by the 2nd century AD was the Manapii, possibly the same people as the Menapii
Menapii
The Menapii were a Belgic tribe of northern Gaul in pre-Roman and Roman times. Their territory according to Strabo, Caesar and Ptolemy stretched from the mouth of the Rhine in the north, and southwards along the west of the Schelde. Their civitas under the Roman empire was Cassel , near Thérouanne...
, a Belgic tribe of northern Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
.
The late Iron Age saw sizeable changes in human activity. Thomas Charles-Edwards
Thomas Charles-Edwards
Thomas Mowbray Charles-Edwards FRHistS FLSW FBA is an academic at Oxford University. He holds the post of Jesus Professor of Celtic and is a Professorial Fellow at Jesus College....
coined the phrase "Irish Dark Age" to refer to a period of apparent economic and cultural stagnation in late pre-historic Ireland, lasting from c. 100 B.C. to c. 300 A.D. Pollen data
Palynology
Palynology is the science that studies contemporary and fossil palynomorphs, including pollen, spores, orbicules, dinoflagellate cysts, acritarchs, chitinozoans and scolecodonts, together with particulate organic matter and kerogen found in sedimentary rocks and sediments...
extracted from Irish bog
Bog
A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....
s indicates that "the impact of human activity upon the flora around the bogs from which the pollen came was less between c. 200 BC and c. 300 AD than either before or after.". The third and fourth centuries saw a rapid recovery. The reasons for the decline and recovery are uncertain, but it has been suggested that recovery may be linked to the purported "Golden Age" of Roman Britain
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
in the third and fourth centuries. The archaeological evidence for trade with, or raids on, Roman Britain is strongest in northern Leinster
Leinster
Leinster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the east of Ireland. It comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Mide, Osraige and Leinster. Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the historic fifths of Leinster and Mide gradually merged, mainly due to the impact of the Pale, which straddled...
, centred on modern County Dublin
County Dublin
County Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Dublin Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Dublin which is the capital of Ireland. County Dublin was one of the first of the parts of Ireland to be shired by King John of England following the...
, followed by the coast of County Antrim
County Antrim
County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...
, with lesser concentrations in the Rosses
The Rosses
The Rosses is a geographical and social region in the west of County Donegal, Ireland, centred around the town of Dungloe, which acts as the educational, shopping and civil centre for the area...
on the north coast of County Donegal
County Donegal
County Donegal is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal. Donegal County Council is the local authority for the county...
and around Carlingford Lough
Carlingford Lough
Carlingford Lough is a glacial fjord or sea inlet that forms part of the border between Northern Ireland to the north and the Republic of Ireland to the south. On its northern shore is County Down and on its southern shore is County Louth...
. Inhumation burials may also have spread from Roman Britain, and had become common in Ireland by the fourth and fifth centuries.
Examples from Iron Age Ireland of La Tène style, the term for Iron Age Celtic art
Celtic art
Celtic art is the art associated with the peoples known as Celts; those who spoke the Celtic languages in Europe from pre-history through to the modern period, as well as the art of ancient peoples whose language is uncertain, but have cultural and stylistic similarities with speakers of Celtic...
are very few, to a "puzzling" extent, although some of these are of very high quality, such as a number of scabbards from Ulster and the Petrie Crown. Despite this it was in Ireland that the style seemed to revive in the Early Christian period, to form the Insular art
Insular art
Insular art, also known as Hiberno-Saxon art, is the style of art produced in the post-Roman history of Ireland and Great Britain. The term derives from insula, the Latin term for "island"; in this period Britain and Ireland shared a largely common style different from that of the rest of Europe...
of the Book of Kells
Book of Kells
The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was created by Celtic monks ca. 800 or slightly earlier...
and other well-known masterpieces, perhaps under influence from Late Roman and post-Roman Romano-British
Romano-British
Romano-British culture describes the culture that arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest of AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, a people of Celtic language and...
styles. The 1st century BC Broighter Gold
Broighter Gold
The Broighter Gold or more correctly, the Broighter Hoard, is a hoard of gold artefacts from the Iron Age of the 1st century BC that were found in 1896 by Tom Nicholl on farmland near Limavady, Northern Ireland. The hoard includes a gold boat, a gold torc and bowl and some other jewellery...
hoard, from Ulster, includes a small model boat, a spectacular torc
Torc
A torc, also spelled torq or torque, is a large, usually rigid, neck ring typically made from strands of metal twisted together. The great majority are open-ended at the front, although many seem designed for near-permanent wear and would have been difficult to remove. Smaller torcs worn around...
with relief decoration influenced by classical style, and other gold jewellery probably imported from the Roman world, perhaps as far away as Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
.
It was also during this time that some protohistoric
Protohistory of Ireland
Ireland can be said to have had a protohistorical period, when, in prehistory, the literate cultures of Greece and Rome began to take notice of it, and a further proto-literate period of ogham epigraphy, before the early historical period began in the 5th century...
records begin to appear.
Archaeology
- Arias, J. World. Prehistory 13 (1999):403–464.The Origins of the Neolithic Along the Atlantic Coast of Continental Europe: A Survey
- Bamforth and Woodman, Oxford J. of Arch. 23 (2004): 21–44. Tool hoards and Neolithic use of the landscape in north-eastern Ireland
- Clark (1970) Beaker Pottery of Great Britain and Ireland of the Gulbenkain Archaeological Series, Cambridge university Press. | doi = 10379/1357}}
Genetics
- McEnvoy et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 75 (2004):693–704
- Finch et al., Exp. Clin. Immunogenet. 14 (1997):250–263
- Williams et al., Hum. Immunology. 65 (2004):66–77