Description of different varieties of skulls and of human remains referable to the tenth century, obtained during recent excavations of a large sepulchral mound near Donnybrook, Co. Dublin / by William Frazer.

  • Frazer, William.
Date:
1880
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Description of different varieties of skulls and of human remains referable to the tenth century, obtained during recent excavations of a large sepulchral mound near Donnybrook, Co. Dublin / by William Frazer. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    turn up occasionally in different parts of Ireland, and are to be found in different museums here. But this specia 1 weapon possesses features of peculiar interest, for its hilt and pommel are both richly decorated with an inlaid pattern, worked into the steel, of gold and silver ornamen- tation ; it is thus unique in so far that no other similarly ornamented weapon has been, up to this time, ever found in Ireland, and it corresponds with the celebrated swords we read of in Northern legends, that were borne only by Danish commanders of high rank or distinction. The iron spear-head, likewise, is a recognised Danish form, of this weapon, and it still displays on its rusted surface portions of human bone adhering to the rust. More recently three iron arrow-heads were picked up close to the same spot, and also a rude dagger-blade of iron. In the course of the excavations two bronze pins were procured ; one had an ornamented top, the other was of the well-known Irish type, with a ring at its upper part. A simple bronze ring was also found upon the finger of a female skeleton, and two iron rings of larger size were also obtained ; one of these was taken off from the upper part of the humerus of a girl, which it encircled. In the classic work upon “ British Crania,” published by Thurnam and Davis, we have a discovery of much in- terest recorded that was made at Larne, in the North of Ireland, about November, 1840. In this case a skeleton was obtained buried in a similar manner to the one I have described. The body had been superficially interred without grave or excavation, and covered with soil; at its side lay a spear and sword exactly resembling those I have described, but the sword had no trace of ornamenta- tion. A bronze pin with a ring at its upper part was also found. These were all described by Mr. J. Huband Smith in the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, and the weapons were subsequently further examined and identified by Prof. Retzius as undoubted examples of Norse weapons, and the skull as that of a Norseman. The distinguished Danish antiquary, Mr. J. J. A. Worsaae, likewise claimed the sword and spear as distinctive of Scandinavian arms, and he referred the Larne interment to the period of one of those piratical incursions made by the Robber Yikings to Ireland about the 11th century. In fact, he ascribed it to the period of a battle fought between the Irish and the Orkney Jarl Einar in the early part of that century.