EMAP_2012_Report_6_1.pdf (7.3 MB) - The Heritage Council

Chapter 5: Bone, Antler and Horn-Working
5.1: Introduction
Skeletal materials in the form of bone, antler and horn were widely used in the early medieval
period to produce domestic, personal and craft-working objects. Items of bone included
spindle-whorls, needles, beads, pins, knife handles and motif-pieces; antler was also used for
knife handles and combs and evidence for the working of horn comes in the form of drinking
horns (Edwards 1990, 83). Bone is a by-product of animal husbandry and was therefore
readily available when required but antler tines were gathered when red deer shed their
antlers in the woods in the late winter and early spring. Both bone- and antler-working are
frequently found in the same sites and may have been undertaken in conjunction with each
other (Edwards 1990, 83). The early literary sources suggest that the worker of skeletal
material did not hold a very high social position. The Uraicecht Brec mentions a craftsperson,
identified as a ‘wool-comber’ by MacNeill (1923), and a ‘comb-maker’ by Kelly (1988, 63) with
an honour price of just half a sét. The tools used by these bone- and antler-workers were
probably similar to those used in woodworking and included axes and saws for cutting;
hammers, knives, draw-knives, punches, chisels, gouges, awls, lathes and drills for effecting
the incised or carved decoration and abrasives for the polishing of the completed object.
5.2: Artefacts
A total of 113 sites within the EMAP 2012 gazetteer contained evidence for bone artefacts
with 34 having antler objects. At least 71 sites had direct evidence for the manufacture of
bone objects while a further 20 had direct indications of antler working. The most common
bone and antler objects comprise pins and bone combs, and a wide diversity of polished and
shaped pins, with decorated heads and occasionally decorated shanks, has been noted. The
wearing and use of bone pins is discussed in Section 3.
A wide variety of bone combs are known and a scheme for the different types was outlined
by Dunlevy and summarised by Laing (Dunlevy 1988 341-422, Laing 2006, 83-4). A collection
of intact antler combs from Lagore (Hencken 1950, 184-90) demonstrates the different types
available in pre-Viking Ireland and included a small one-piece, single-sided comb with
rounded back and simple ring-and-dot ornament and a number of single- and double-sided
composite combs frequently decorated with ring-and-dot motifs or more occasionally complex
fret, spiral or interlace designs (Edwards 1990, 84-5). In the Viking Age, Scandinavian types
become more prevalent and primarily comprised long single-sided composite combs,
sometimes in bone rather than antler. These are known at a number of rural sites including
Knowth (Eogan 1974, 100-2) and the Scandinavian towns (Edwards 1990, 85, Riddler and
Trzaska-Nartowski, forthcoming). Combs would have been an obligatory personal item as hair
appears to have been worn long by both man and woman (Edwards 1990, 85-6). It has also
been suggested that short single-sided combs and some bone pins may have been used as
hair ornaments (Lucas 1965, 101-2).
Bone and antler gaming pieces and dices were recorded at numerous sites, including
Parcnahown, (Riddler and Trzaska-Nartowski 2009e, 290), Dowdstown (Riddler and Trzaska-
Nartowski 2009d, 4), Lagore (Hencken 1950, 196) and Ballinderry II (Hencken 1942, 55).
Bone and antler was also widely employed to produce cylindrical handles for tanged knives
and other similar implements and such evidence has been discovered at numerous sites,
including Coonagh West (Taylor 2007, 78); Rathgurreen (Comber 2002, 176); Rathmullan
(1981/82, 138); Cathedral Hill, Armagh (Gaskell-Brown and Harper 1984, 127-8) and Lagore
(Hencken 1950, 196). Beads, buttons, needles and motif-pieces were produced from bone
and antler. Drinking horns rarely survive but their presence is indicated by metal attachments
such as those found at Moynagh Lough (Bradley 1993, 76), Ballinderry II (Hencken 1942,
45), and Carraig Aille II (Ó Ríordáin 1949a, 64-7). A recent spectacular silver example was
found at Ballyvass, Co. Kildare (Clark and Doyle 2011).
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