Wessex Gold, Irish Lives
We revisit the 2006 cremation burial from Mucklagh , Tullamore - two people, their possessions and a Bronze Age story of travel or trade...
N52 Tullamore Bypass, with Mucklagh location marked
In 2006 we identified and excavated a number of sites as part of the N52 Tullamore Bypass, on behalf of the National Roads Authority (now Transport Infrastructure Ireland). Of the sites we studied, the most enigmatic and exciting was uncovered at Mucklagh 2.
An isolated cremation burial of an adult and child were identified in proximity to some possible charcoal production pits (see red dot on map), to the south-west of Tullamore. Coincidentally, the site is less than 22km from the recognised 'geographical centre' of the island of Ireland.
Archaeologists excavating at Mucklagh in 2006.
Details of the excavation results
The Mucklagh gold artefact was sent to the National Museum of Ireland where it was examined by Assistant Keeper Mary Cahill, Ireland’s leading expert on Bronze Age gold. She identified it as a bead cover of Wessex-type.
The Mucklagh Wessex-type bead-cover
The gold bead cover is unique in Ireland, though it has parallels in a pair of conical bead-covers from a cremation burial at Barrow Hills, Oxfordshire (Barclay and Halpin 1999), and in similar objects from female Wessex Culture inhumations at Wilsford, Wiltshire (Colt-Hoare 1810, 202).
Paul Mullarkey, of The National Museum of Ireland’s Conservation Department conducted further tests on the gold to discover its composition. It was found to be typical of gold from the period, with over 90% purity and additions of lead and copper.
Photograph and illustration of the bone awl uncovered at Mucklagh, Tullamore.
The bone pin was identified as an awl, made of antler. Although not made of Bronze, its presence also shadows the Barrow Hills cremation burial.
The awl is utilitarian in its function and design, and was probably used in the working of leather or textiles.
A similar bone point was found in the cremation burial of a young adult female in the early Bronze Age cist at Poulawack, Co Clare (Hencken 1935). Bronze awls have notable female associations in both Beaker and Wessex burials.
A survey of all sex-determined Beaker burials from England showed awls accompanied 16% of the females, and only 6% of the males (Barclay and Halpin 1999, 192).
Distribution and details of the Mucklagh bead-cover and similar examples from around Europe...
(click thumbnails at left to expand)
Timeline placing the Mucklagh 2 site at Tullamore within its international context
Conclusions
So how did the bead cover get from Wessex to Offaly? Was it made in Ireland to copy this prehistoric British tradition or was it traded through many hands between the two islands? Perhaps, as with today, there were links between the people from the two locations, and its presence in Offaly is the result of visits between family and friends. We will never know the real story behind the bead cover and its owners, but it is a fascinating example of cultural exchange in the past, which shows just how close the links were between Ireland and England in prehistory.
Acknowledgements
The title and text of this StoryMap is based upon work undertaken by Susan Lalonde, Carmelita Troy and Karen Stewart for a presentation poster about the findings from Mucklagh. Portions of the text are edited from an earlier blog post, written by Damian Shiels. Rubicon Heritage gratefully acknowledges the help of Mary Cahill and Paul Mullarkey at the National Museum of Ireland for their work in identifying the bead cover and creating illustrations and images of the artefact. Thanks must also be extended to Orlaith Egan of Transport Infrastructure Ireland, Offaly County Council and Linda Hegarty, Archaeological Director, for her original excavation.
Rubicon Heritage are very grateful to Wiltshire Museum for kind permission to reproduce images from their Nationally Significant online archive collection, it is well worth a digital visit if you can't attend the exhibits in-person! - https://www.wiltshiremuseum.org.uk/collections/
References
Barclay, A. and Halpin, C. 1999 Excavations at Barrow Hills, Radley, Oxfordshire. Volume 1: The Neolithic and Bronze Age Monument Complex. Oxford Archaeology, Oxford.
Barfield, L.H., 1991. Wessex with and without Mycenae: new evidence from Switzerland. Antiquity 65, pp. 102-107.
Colt-Hoare, R. 1810 The Ancient History of Wiltshire. Volume 1. Miller, London.
Hencken, H. 1935 A cairn at Poulawack, Co. Clare. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries Ireland, 65, 191–222.
Troy, C. and Lalonde, S. 2011 ‘Bronze Age Bling’ – Wessex gold in an Offaly burial. Offaly Heritage: Journal of the Offaly Historical and Archaeological Society, 6, 14–24.
Further Reading
The original excavation report of Mucklagh 2 is available here as a digital download from the TII Digital Heritage Collections, within the Digital Repository of Ireland. The original excavation was undertaken by Headland Archaeology Ireland Ltd, which became Rubicon Heritage Services Ltd in 2010.