in the resultant alloy is bronze, a much harder material than pure copper and thereby more useful for use in weaponry. Finds of Bronze-age weapons include daggers, halberds, spearheads and flat axes. These axe heads were sometimes decorated spirals or zigzagging and have been as far away as Britain and Scandinavia. The axes are heavy and this is an indication that copper was in good supply in Ireland.total weight of copper and bronze artefacts found amount to around 750 kilograms but it is estimated that a mine in County Cork, at Mount Gabriel turned out 370 tones. The oldest known copper mine in Northwest Europe is said to be at Ross Island in County Kerry. Later in the period bronze would also be used to produce musical horns and to date 104 such horns are known today.Bronze-age is marked by the large number of hoards that have been found throughout the country. There is the Ballinesker hoard found in County Wexford in 1990 and dated from the 8 th century BC. The Dowris Hoard from near Birr in County Offaly found in 1830 s and dated to between 7 th and 9 th centuries BC. This hoard includes swords, spearheads axes, horns, crotals buckets and a cauldron. Many crescent shaped lunula made of hammered gold sheets and which fit around the neck, have been discovered. Out of 100 found in Europe 80 of them were in Ireland. The decorations on the lunula usually consist of concentric rows of dots, zigzags, crosses and triangles and are similar to the decorations found on pottery and flat axes. Other finds included arm bands, necklaces, ear-rings, ear spools, bracelets and lock rings made for the hair and made from fine gold wire. Many of the hoards include gold and bronze artefacts with glass, faience and amber beads. Indeed the hoards can contain a great number of different objects from weapons to musical instruments to jewellery. We have to ask ourselves why such hoards have been placed where they were? Many of the larger ones were probably an accumulation of objects gathered over a long period of time perhaps as a votive offering or hidden in times of strife. Others were obviously personal belongings either lost or placed as an offering to a god. As most of these hoards were found in bogs or wetlands it probably signifies sites of spiritual importance.development of the Irish bronze age was the move away from the massive megalithic graves such as Newgrange Passage Tomb. Wedge tombs were appearing. The wedge tomb is a simple stone lined narrowing chamber with a capstone and the whole then covered over with a mound. Normally they don t measure more than 1.5 metres in height and though found in many parts of Ireland they are more numerous in the uplands of Munster, Connaught and West Ulster. Th...
