Lambay lithics: the analysis of two surface
collections from Lambay, Co. Dublin
BRIAN DOLAN AND GABRIEL COONEY*
School of Archaeology, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4
[Accepted 9 March 2010. Published 28 April 2010.]
Abstract
Two collections of unsystematically surface-collected lithics from the island of
Lambay, Co. Dublin, were analysed using an integrated methodology focused on
a Geographical Information System-based approach, incorporating a number of
analytical perspectives. Analysis and mapping of this material provides an important new perspective on prehistoric human activity on the island. Assessment of the
diagnostic artefacts demonstrated the presence of human activity during the Later
Mesolithic and it seems very likely that people were present on Lambay from the
Early Mesolithic. There were a number of significant individual assemblages and
two of these are discussed in detail. Widespread activity across the island has also
been revealed as well as the persistent use of key locales over long periods. The study
provides an important complement to the results of the excavation at the Neolithic
axe-quarry site on the island at the Eagle’s Nest as well as a consideration of
Lambay’s context and long-distance contacts in the wider Irish Sea region.
Introduction
Lithics are the most resilient, widespread and ubiquitous form of archaeological evidence available to us from prehistory. The study of these stone artefacts can illuminate many aspects of prehistoric peoples’ identities, beliefs, rituals and technological
practices (e.g. Binford 1973; Edmonds 1995). Their significance is as everyday
objects seen, made or used by people living in Ireland over at least six millennia.
Surface collections of lithics played a large part in the early development of archaeology as a discipline in Ireland and large antiquarian assemblages were amassed (e.g.
Woodman et al. 2006). However, with the development of excavation approaches,
the widespread collection of artefacts became generally less significant and popular
as a field methodology. Nonetheless, collection did continue (e.g. Stacpoole 1962)
and from the 1970s onwards there has been a recognition of the value of a researchorientated approach to surface scatters, for example, in understanding the distribution
and location of Mesolithic material (e.g. Woodman 1978; Anderson 1993; Warren
et al. 2009; see also Hodgers (1973, 1975, 1979, 1994) work in the coastal areas of
Co. Louth)). Following on the international development of systematic field-walking
methodologies (e.g. Schofield 1991a, 2000; Bintliff et al. 2000), the 1980s and 1990s
saw the large-scale Bally Lough (Green and Zvelebil 1990; Peterson 1990; Zvelebil
*
Authors’ e-mail: gabriel.cooney@ucd.ie
doi: 10.3318/PRIAC.2010.110.1
Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy Vol. 110C, 1–33 © 2010 Royal Irish Academy
Brian Dolan and Gabriel Cooney
et al. 1992) and Lough Swilly surveys (Kimball 2000); the smaller scale Mount Oriel
(Cooney 1990) and Red Mountain surveys (Cooney and Brady 1998); and a number
of graduate theses (Cafferkey 1996; Collins 1997; Cross 1991; Guinan 1992). Brady
(2007a, 2007b) has recently completed a field survey of the Brú na Bóinne area,
which has added significantly to our understanding of the earlier prehistory of this key
area; advanced the methodology of systematic collection and analysis of plough-zone
scatters; and provided a valuable overview and summary of previous work.
Recent research then has concentrated on systematic field-walking surveys.
The present paper however deals with the combined analysis of two unsystematic
surface collections from Lambay, an island in the Irish Sea off the Dublin coast. It
is an attempt to maximise the knowledge gained from a problematic archaeological
resource and to demonstrate the value of surface collections in providing a landscape
perspective that complements that available through excavation. Understanding
unsystematic collections inevitably requires individually tailored methodologies.
From a historical perspective, the dominance of unsystematic compared to systematic collections—in the United Kingdom (Schofield 2000; Smith 2005) and in
Ireland (see discussion in Woodman et al. 2006; Brady 2007a)—means that innovative approaches and case studies are needed to facilitate the interpretation of the
value of unsystematic collections. In the case of the analysis of the Lambay collections, a varied suite of methodologies were utilised. They were integrated through
a Geographical Information System (GIS)-based approach and incorporated traditional artefact analysis, beach pebble survey, spatial and statistical analysis. The
objective of the analysis was to recognise and deal effectively with specific taphonomic problems; maximise the archaeological potential of the collections; and provide a complementary and broader landscape perspective to the data coming from
excavations and other surveys on the island.
Background
2
Lambay (Pl. I) is the largest island off the east coast of Ireland. It lies approximately 4km off the Dublin coast, east of Portrane, about 10km north of Howth and
Ireland’s Eye (Fig. 1). Current settlement on Lambay is focused on the western
lowland area, which makes up about one-third of the island. This area faces the
mainland coast of Ireland and has the safest landing places and the thickest soil
cover. The rest of the island is higher, more exposed and has frequent rocky outcrops. Much of the island is composed of a suite of volcanic rocks. Lambay, and
the rocky foreshore of the mainland at Portrane, are believed to be the remnants of
a volcanic island, which was created from a muddy sea bed by eruptions of basaltic
and andesitic lava during the late Ordovician period. The oldest rocks on the island
are the sea-floor sediments (mudstones and shales), which occur on the northwest and south-east coasts. On the south-east coast there are also shallow water
limestones, representing the fringing calcareous reef of the volcanic island. There
are three distinct groups of igneous rocks. Later the Ordovician rocks were folded
and faulted by the Caledonide orogeny. In one location in the north-west (Broad
Bay), these rocks were overlain by red sandstone and conglomerate of probable
Carboniferous age. The western low-lying area of the island is extensively overlain by glacial till of Midlandian Cold Stage date (Stillman 1994). The coastline is
Lambay lithics: the analysis of two surface collections
PL. I—Lambay from the east. (Photo: Rob Sands.)
largely precipitous except on its western and south-western sides and a low rocky
stretch at Carrickdorrish in the north-east.
Lambay has a long if punctuated history of archaeological enquiry. In the
nineteenth century there were finds of worked flint (e.g. Seymour 1896) and an
Iron Age gold strip, allegedly found with an iron sword (Raftery 1983, 279–80).
In the Keiller-Knowles Collection there is a small patinated flint blade labelled
Lambay 1908 (Woodman et al. 2006, 49; KK07968). Wall construction at the harbour in 1927 revealed Neolithic activity and Iron Age crouched inhumation burials
(Macalister 1929; Rynne 1976; Herity 1982; Raftery 1994). In the 1940s Mitchell
(1990, 48) collected lithics on the island and recognised the presence of a large
univallate promontory fort at Scotch Point, in the north-west corner of the island,
west of the trivallate promontory fort at Gouge Point (also known as the Garden
Fort) surveyed by Westropp (1922). Ó’Floinn and Cherry (1992) excavated a burial west of the nineteenth-century chapel, which is located on top of, or close to,
the medieval church that served the island community. The fauna and flora of the
island was the subject of an intensive survey in 1905 and 1906 (Praeger 1907).
Collection and analysis of the lithic collections, which are the subject
of this paper (Dolan 2005; 2006), were undertaken in the context of a wider
archaeological project being carried out by one of the authors (Cooney), aimed
at understanding the long-term settlement history of the island. The initial focus
of this work was the recognition of a Neolithic axe quarry and production site at
3
Brian Dolan and Gabriel Cooney
FIG. 1—Lambay and some other locations mentioned in the text.
the Eagle’s Nest (e.g. Cooney 1998, 2004a, 2005) utilising porphyritic andesite
(porphyry). This has been complemented by other excavations (Cooney 1996,
2002, 2003a) and a range of survey approaches, which is providing the basis for
a new understanding of the pattern of human settlement on Lambay (Cooney
2009). One notable landmark is the prehistoric hilltop cairn at Knockbane (Pl.
II), one of a number of cairns on the island. Looking from Knockbane, the wider
Irish Sea setting of Lambay and its potential significance in the long-term settlement history of the island is very clear (Cooney 2004b). From the island there
is a commanding view of the Irish coastline with the Mourne and Cooley mountains visible to the north, the Dublin/Wicklow mountains dominating the land
horizon to the south and Snaefell on the Isle of Man can be seen to the north-east
in clear weather.
4
Lambay lithics: the analysis of two surface collections
PL. II—View of Knockbane from the harbour (centre of picture, on skyline). (Photo: Brian
Dolan.)
Collection,
taphonomy and
methodology
Two separately collected, unsystematic assemblages were examined: one consisting of material collected by Cooney and his team between 1992 and 2005
(Collection 1: 493 artefacts) and a smaller group collected by Beatrice Kelly over
a similar period (Collection 2: 156 artefacts). The two collections were gathered
during walks covering the whole island (Fig. 2), although some areas would certainly have been visited more than others. Areas known to produce finds, areas of
broken ground and the accessible coastal zones were visited repeatedly. The detail
of spatial information for finds was variable; ranging from detailed provenances,
with specific national grid references, to more general provenancing to an area on
the island.
Collection strategies can introduce significant biases in surface collections but when they are recognised it is relatively straightforward to take them into
account during interpretation. On Lambay, the variety of unusual taphonomic processes operating on the lithics were a far more complex problem. The majority of
artefacts in Collections 1 and 2 were exposed by rabbits: Lambay has a fluctuating
population of rabbits (estimated at over 15,000 in 2005) and their burrowing has
caused significant disturbance of subsurface artefacts. Historically, it is known that
rabbits were initially introduced as a commercial resource in the medieval period
(McCormick 1999). Rabbit activity tends to be concentrated in areas of deeper soil,
5
Brian Dolan and Gabriel Cooney
FIG. 2—Map showing the spatial extent of collections 1 and 2. © Irish Air Corps/Government
of Ireland.
particularly sandy areas on the western shore and where the glacial till is thickest.
However, it is also widespread, if less dense, across the rest of the island and is
absent only in areas of particularly thin soil. Other significant processes exposing
material include coastal erosion along the western and south-western coasts and cattle erosion on tracks and at field gates.
None of the collected artefacts on Lambay have come from an active
plough-zone but evidence of medieval (in the form of plough pebbles (see Brady
1988; Dolan 2006)), and later ploughing in some parts of the island (Cooney
2002), particularly in the lower, western area, means that at least a portion of the
‘total assemblage’ has been affected by this process. Spade cultivation may have
had an effect on a larger proportion of the assemblage. Evidence for this practice
can still be seen in the widespread occurrence of lazy beds on the island and it is
clear that it was common on Lambay in the nineteenth century, certainly in upland
areas (see Cooney 2003b). There is a lack of research into the effects of spade cultivation on subsurface archaeology but it seems likely to have caused some lateral
movement, particularly downslope, though not over substantial distances. While
these diverse taphonomic processes will certainly have considerably disturbed
the artefacts being discussed here, research into the effects of modern ploughing
(e.g. Schofield 1991b) and other relevant processes (e.g. Barclay 1994; Holdaway
et al. 1998; Dolan 2006) suggest that non-local archaeological patterns, at an
island-wide scale, will have survived and can be accessed through appropriate
methodologies.
6
Lambay lithics: the analysis of two surface collections
For the Lambay collections, a GIS was used to combine spatial, topographical and artefactual information. Artefacts were amalgamated into ‘assemblages’ if
they were from the same find-spot. Find-spots consisted of specific national grid coordinates which were assigned graded confidence levels depending on the quality of
the spatial information associated with them (see Table 1 for details). This allowed
visual representation of the spatial accuracy of the data (Fig. 3). Individual artefacts
were subject to macroscopic morphological examination according to a standard
descriptive system designed to assess the character of primary and secondary technology within the overall assemblage of the lithic material (Dolan 2005). A pebble
survey of all the accessible pebble beaches on the island was undertaken to address
questions relating to raw material availability.
The GIS allowed an integrated approach to the methodologies utilised in
the analysis. It facilitated rapid and efficient interrogation, interpretation and presentation of the results of the analyses. The ability to view any aspect of the spatial,
topographical or artefactual data in any combination, almost instantly, was a powerful interpretive aid that allowed sophisticated treatment of the database, visual
identification of archaeological patterns and clear presentation of the data.
Character of the
assemblage
While the ‘total assemblage’ is composed of material from two separate collections,
comparison of the two makes it clear that they can be looked at as a whole. The collections overlap spatially (Fig. 2), with shared find-spots. Furthermore, the character
of the technologies, the broad range of the collections and the raw materials used
in both are remarkably uniform (Dolan 2005). This suggests that collection biases
are not a serious factor in comparing the two. They present a surprisingly consistent
view of the overall character of prehistoric lithics on Lambay, hence allowing their
analysis as a single ‘total assemblage’ (Table 2).
TABLE 1—Grading of spatial information.
Grade
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Criteria
Finds likely to be associated with each other. Location certain. Located using
hand-held GPS to specific grid co-ordinates or can be located to within a few
metres on the map.
Finds likely to be associated with each other. Location not entirely certain. Plotted
on a field map but not close to landmarks.
Finds possibly associated with each other. Located to a specific locale. A central
grid co-ordinate has been set for the locale. Finds may not have come from this
exact spot but from no more than tens of metres away.
Finds unlikely to be associated with each other. Located to a general area on the
island (For example a field or a hill slope). A central grid co-ordinate has been set
for finds from this area but it is not known where exactly they were picked up.
Finds unlikely to be associated with each other. Located to a specific area of a beach,
fresh finds. These finds are likely to have been eroded from the shoreline nearby.
Re-deposited material. For example finds located to a beach and very rolled or
finds from paths which have been renewed with material from beaches.
No spatial information.
7
Brian Dolan and Gabriel Cooney
8
FIG. 3—Map showing confidence level of spatial grading. (Confidence grade 1 equals high confidence, grade 7 has no spatial information.) © Ordnance Survey Ireland/Government of Ireland. Copyright Permit No. MP 001610.
Lambay lithics: the analysis of two surface collections
Some 119 assemblages (649 artefacts) were identified ranging in size from
single artefacts to over a hundred individual finds. Here the overall character of the
collections in terms of raw materials, condition, primary technology and secondary
technology is discussed. Assemblage 10, which is by far the largest assemblage, and
Assemblage 11, the second largest, are also discussed.
Raw materials
The surface collections from Lambay are overwhelmingly dominated by flint (over
96%), while some quartz and other materials are also represented. Recognising that
collection bias against non-flint raw materials may be a factor, the dominance of
flint appears to be a real phenomenon and is paralleled in the majority of surface
scatters analysed in Ireland (Brady 2007a, 108). The pebble survey of Lambay’s
coast confirmed that flint pebbles are available on a number of beaches, varying
in size up to 80mm in maximum dimension. Larger pebbles between 60mm and
80mm in diameter are restricted to two beaches on the western side of the island,
south of the harbour (Dolan 2005). Flint also occurs in Lambay’s glacial till but
survey of exposed sections suggests that it is too small to be usable. It is clear that
flint nodules from coastal beaches were an important resource in Dublin, Meath and
Louth (e.g. Stacpoole 1962; Hodgers 1994; Guinan 1992; Brady 2007a). Analysis
of the size of artefacts in the assemblage shows that, with possibly one significant
exception, all of the flint collected from Lambay could have been produced from
local sources (Fig. 4).
TABLE 2—Summary of total assemblage.
Primary technology*
Qty
Regular flake
Irregular flake
Bipolar flake
Indeterminate flake
Chunk
Blade
Chip
Pebble
Indeterminate
Cores
–
–
–
–
–
Total
Assemblage Total
221
146
3
15
74
50
10
7
7
50
–
–
–
–
–
583
649
Percentage of total
assemblage
34.1%
26.9%
0.5%
2.8%
11.4%
7.7%
1.5%
1.1%
1.1%
7.7%
–
–
–
–
–
89.8%
Retouched artefacts/
Secondary technology
Butt-trimmed Flake
Leaf-shaped arrow-head
Notched flake
Retouched blade
Retouched flake
Serrated blade
Indeterminate retouched tool
Scraper: concave
Scraper: convex
Scraper: complex
Scraper: end
Scraper: irregular
Scraper: denticulate
Scraper: side
Scraper: disc
Total
Qty
2
1
1
4
30
1
1
2
11
1
2
5
1
3
1
66
Percentage of total
assemblage
0.3%
0.2%
0.2%
0.6%
4.6%
0.2%
0.2%
0.3%
1.7%
0.2%
0.3%
0.8%
0.2%
0.5%
0.2%
10.2%
*Includes artefacts where retouch was indeterminate.
9
Brian Dolan and Gabriel Cooney
Only two artefacts exceed the 80mm maximum size of beach pebbles from
the island. One (C05.1:0233), at just 84mm, could be accepted without much argument as originating on the island. However, the other (Fig. 5; C05.1:0174) is a significantly larger (106mm) secondary flake. This flake was struck from an even larger core and there is no evidence that nodules of this size are available on Lambay,
although it is not impossible that they were in prehistory. The alternative is that the
flake was produced from flint originating on a beach on the east coast of Ireland or
possibly even from farther north, from the primary source in Antrim where chalk is
covered by Tertiary basalt (e.g. Wilson 1972). However, the artefact lacks a chalk
cortex as would traditionally be expected from Antrim flint in a primary context.
Quartz is also available from Lambay’s beaches and as veins in outcropping rock. The single conglomerate pebble core (C05.1:0562) is likely to have
been sourced from Broad Bay in the north-west of the island where the material is
abundant. The single pitchstone artefact (Fig. 5; C05.1:0318) is a definite import
and is discussed below. Other artefacts illustrated in Figure 5 are also discussed
where relevant below.
Condition of the material
A large proportion of the finds (43%) had evidence of abrasion or rolling (Fig. 6).
Much of the rolled material originated from beaches and the abrasion of a large
FIG. 4—Artefact size (total assemblage), excludes chips.
10
Lambay lithics: the analysis of two surface collections
11
FIG. 5—A selection of artefacts from the Lambay surface lithic assemblage. (Drawn by Ursula Mattenburger.)
Brian Dolan and Gabriel Cooney
percentage of artefacts can probably be explained through exposure, trampling
and burrowing. On the other hand, the fact that more than half of the assemblage
(57%) is fresh is surprising in the context of a surface assemblage. This may be
explained by a number of factors, including the relatively limited spatial extent of
ploughing on the island and the restriction of widespread spade cultivation to an
80-year period in the nineteenth century. It may also suggest that rabbit-burrowing brings previously undisturbed artefacts to the surface and that long-term rabbit
disturbance does not abrade artefacts. In relation to movement, rabbits certainly
move artefacts, particularly when burrowing on steep slopes, but in most cases
their effect is very localised (Dolan 2006). Patination was recorded on 123 artefacts (19%) from the assemblage but its distribution across the island closely mirrors the general density of the material, showing no interpretable pattern. Colour
was also recorded, but again no notable patterns were encountered. Identification
of ‘Antrim flint’ through colour and chalk cortex (e.g. Dillon 1997) was rejected
because there is chalk cortex on some of Lambay’s flint pebbles, which are also
varied in colour. Only 6.8% of the artefacts show evidence of burning and no particular artefact type deviates significantly from this trend. The distribution of burnt
lithics across the island broadly follows the overall distribution of artefacts with
no significant concentrations except at Assemblage 10 (see below) where 12.2%
of artefacts are burnt.
During the analysis, flakes and blades were classified as broken or unbroken
in an attempt to identify any unusual patterns resulting from either deliberate human
action or taphonomy (Fig. 7). Overall a large proportion (64.6%) was found to be
intact but when the figures for individual categories are examined a more complicated picture emerges. Irregular flakes are far more likely than blades or regular
flakes to be undamaged. Blades are particularly vulnerable to fracture with some
58% being incomplete. Surface collections are particularly vulnerable to trampling,
whether by people or animals, and it is likely that irregular flakes are less susceptible
to these processes due to their morphology and robustness.
Primary technology
The core reduction sequence for the ‘total assemblage’ is what would be expected
from an assemblage representative of all stages of lithic production (Table 2, Fig. 8).
Irregular flakes are more commonly primary or secondary, blades are predominantly
secondary or tertiary and regular flakes are similarly dominant late in the reduction
sequence. The implication is that importation of previously worked blanks, in late
stages of the production sequence, did not play any significant role in the working of
flint on Lambay. Clearly, remembering the chronological and contextual limitations
of what is a disparate surface collection, this is a generalisation that may not have
held true at all times and in all places on the island.
The cores from the assemblage are dominated by platform technology, with
a very small proportion of bipolar cores (Table 3). This is surprising considering
the prevalence of bipolar technology at Barnageeragh on the Dublin coast (Guinan
1992), in north-east Wicklow (Cafferkey 1996) and from the excavated Eagle’s Nest
12
Lambay lithics: the analysis of two surface collections
FIG. 6—Condition (total assemblage).
site on Lambay (Dolan in prep). The variation in use of the bipolar technique may
be a product of chronological distinctions, with bipolar working being more prevalent in later prehistory (see Woodman et al. 2006, 126–7). It is often explained as a
response to poor resource availability. However, while this may have been a factor,
it is in reality an active technological (and chronologically distinct) choice, not a
passive reaction to local flint sources. At the Eagle’s Nest site, evidence of deliberate
bipolar reworking of platform flakes and retouched artefacts, particularly scrapers;
FIG. 7—Breakage of flakes and blades (total assemblage).
13
Brian Dolan and Gabriel Cooney
FIG. 8—Core reduction sequence (total assemblage).
combined with the availability of flint on the island; the rarity of bipolar working
elsewhere; and evidence for complex, structured deposition of bipolar cores and split
pebbles suggests that the technology could be used for other reasons, beyond the
mundane (see Cooney 1998; 2005; Dolan in prep.).
Secondary technology
The proportion of retouched artefacts in surface assemblages can be highly variable. In the Lambay assemblage, 10% of the material is retouched. Table 4 details
the percentage of artefacts which have been retouched in a selection of Irish surface collections (after Brady 2007a). The figures suggest that large assemblages
from coastal contexts (near secondary flint sources in the form of beach pebbles),
such as at Salterstown, Co. Louth, Barnageeragh and North Wicklow, tend to have
low proportions of retouch, probably as a result of a large amount of primary working at source. Inland surface collections, as those at Mount Oriel and Newgrange
have substantially higher proportions. Interestingly, 20% of an excavated ploughzone assemblage in a coastal location at Malahide, Co. Dublin, was found to be
retouched (Keeling and Keeley 1994). Two other assemblages do not conform to
these trends: the very large percentage of retouched material from the Lough Swilly
TABLE 3—Cores from the total assemblage.
Bipolar
core
6
12%
14
Dual platform
core
1
2%
Irregular
core
10
20%
Irregular
platform core
1
2%
Single
platform core
29
58%
Uni-facial
core
3
6%
Total
50
–
Lambay lithics: the analysis of two surface collections
TABLE 4—Percentage retouch from a selection of Irish surface collections (after Brady 2007a).
Project
name
Percentage
retouched*
Lough Swilly
Archaeological
Survey
44%
Newgrange
Environs
Survey
16%
Mount
Oriel
Project
17%
Red
Mountain
Transect
5%
Salterstown
Collection
Project
2%
Barnageeragh
Survey
4%
North
Wicklow
Survey
3%
*Excludes pebbles/nodules to allow comparison with Lambay assemblage.
Survey (Kimball 2000) can be explained as a product of low raw material variability (Brady 2007a, 70) but it is not clear why the inland Red Mountain transect
(Cooney and Brady 1998) has such a low proportion of retouched material (Table
4). The Lambay assemblage—where 10% of the material has been retouched—
falls somewhere between the range of inland collections and the coastal sites.
The majority of retouched artefacts were unclassifiable retouched flakes
and blades (Table 2). A variety of scrapers were also identified, both convex and
concave. No classic hollow-shaped scrapers were present in the assemblage.
Only one artefact had invasive retouch, a rolled leaf-shaped arrow-head (Fig. 5;
C05.1:0322), although javelin-heads and planoconvex knives are known from
the island (Macalister 1929; Herity 1982). One unusual artefact is a tang (Fig. 5;
C05.1:0539) from an indeterminate broken artefact very similar to a miscellaneous
retouched artefact (KK06969) in the Keiller-Knowles Collection (Woodman et al.
2006, 195). There is further discussion of the chronologically diagnostic artefacts
from the assemblage below.
Assemblage 10
Assemblage 10 is the largest assemblage on the island (123 artefacts, 19% of the ‘total
assemblage’). It incorporates artefacts collected from a cattle scratch and group of
rabbit burrows, forming a scar approximately six metres in diameter, situated about
350m north-east of Knockbane, on a small terrace orientated towards the north-east
(Pl. III). The finds make up some 19% of the ‘total assemblage’: while they are discussed here as a group, it is important to note that they may not be chronologically
associated. No diagnostic artefacts have been identified, however the large proportion
of blades and the general technology used, including bipolar, platform and irregular
cores (Table 5), suggest the assemblage dates to later prehistory, probably prior to the
final Neolithic (Woodman et al. 2006, 126). A magnetometry survey of the terrace has
indicated the presence of a small enclosure or structure and this raises the question of
whether it was associated with the range of activities indicated by the lithics.
Flint is the dominant raw material in the assemblage although there is a small
quartz (4 artefacts) and conglomerate (1 artefact) element. There is a low proportion
of cores when compared with the figure for the ‘total assemblage’ (4.9% vs 10.2%),
including one bipolar flint core, an irregular conglomerate core and four single platform cores; one of which is made from quartz. The assemblage has an unusually high
percentage of fresh material (71%), reflecting repeated collection from a location
15
Brian Dolan and Gabriel Cooney
PL. III—Photo of area of Assemblage 10 from the north. The assemblage was collected from
the disturbed area just left of centre. (Photo: Brian Dolan.)
where material is being eroded from an undisturbed context. Irregular flakes show
the same proportion of breakage as for the ‘total assemblage’ while far more blades
and regular flakes are broken (Fig. 9). Trample is probably a significant factor in this
considering the part cattle have played in its erosion, but given the character and context of this assemblage the possibility of breakage in use in prehistory is also likely.
The most striking thing about the assemblage is the lack of irregular and
primary flakes, suggesting it was not a manufacturing area (Fig. 10). There is a clear
TABLE 5—Summary of Assemblage 10.
Primary
Qty
technology*
Regular flakes
58
Irregular flakes
12
Indeterminate flakes
3
Blade
17
Chunk
14
Indeterminate
2
Chip
1
Cores
6
Total
113
Assemblage total
123
Percentage of
Assemblage 10
47.2%
9.8%
2.4%
13.8%
11.4%
1.6%
0.8%
4.9%
91.9%
Retouched artefacts/
Secondary technology
Convex scraper
Scraper
Retouched flake
Retouched blade
Total
Core types
Bipolar core
Single platform core
Irregular core
*Includes artefacts where retouch was indeterminate.
16
Qty
1
1
6
2
10
Percentage of
Assemblage 10
0.8%
0.8%
4.9%
1.6%
8.1%
1
4
1
–
–
–
Lambay lithics: the analysis of two surface collections
FIG. 9—Breakage of flakes and blades (Assemblage 10).
dominance of tertiary and regular flakes. The site was a focus for artefacts from late
in the reduction sequence; usable artefacts with sharp edges. The retouched artefacts
are also predominantly regular apart from one scraper and two retouched flakes. The
high proportion of burning referred to above is likely to have occurred in prehistory
and is consistent with a domestic assemblage focusing on the use of sharp flakes and
blades with some small-scale manufacturing and/or rejuvenation being carried out.
We may be seeing here, in an island context, a microcosm of the broader pattern
FIG. 10—Core reduction sequence (Assemblage 10).
17
Brian Dolan and Gabriel Cooney
recognised in the east coastal region of Ireland with primary reduction taking place
on the west coast of Lambay.
Assemblage 11
Assemblage 11 was very unusual as 25 out of the 26 artefacts (4% of the ‘total assemblage’) were found together, in situ, eroding out of a small area of thin soil cover about
1.5m in diameter, on a rocky ridge in a field in the lowland north-west of the island
where there is generally a low density of lithic finds. This suggests it may be a chronologically associated group. Unfortunately, it contains no datable artefacts and cannot
be dated technologically. The assemblage contains no cores, is dominated by tertiary
artefacts (Table 6, Fig. 11) and is made up of flakes smaller than 32mm in maximum
TABLE 6—Summary of Assemblage 11.
Primary
Qty
technology*
Regular flakes
10
Irregular flakes
8
Blades
1
Chip
1
Chunk
4
Total
25
Assemblage Total 26
Percentage of
Assemblage 11
38.50%
30.80%
3.80%
3.80%
15.40%
96.20%
Retouched artefacts/
Secondary technology
Retouched flake
Qty
1
Percentage of
Assemblage 11
3.80%
–
–
–
Total
–
–
–
1
–
–
–
3.80%
*Includes artefacts where retouch was indeterminate.
FIG. 11—Core reduction sequence (Assemblage 11).
18
Lambay lithics: the analysis of two surface collections
FIG. 12—Artefact size (Assemblage 11), excludes chips.
dimension. Indeed, a large proportion measure between 10mm and 20mm (Fig. 12).
None of the flakes are bipolar and a subset of the assemblage (18 artefacts) is made
from a uniform grey flint, possibly from the same core. It is possible that some of these
stem from a particular episode of retouching.
Spatial analysis
The spatial analysis of surface scatters is fraught with difficulties relating to chronology, definitions of site, interpretation of density and the effects of theoretical
approaches, collection strategies and taphonomy (Schofield 1991a; Bintliff et al.
2000). Dating surface scatters is highly problematic, particularly in Ireland (see
Brady 2007a, 180–5); hence the approach taken below is cautious. Diagnostic artefacts are considered and plotted with reference to the whole island (Fig. 13); the
presence of diagnostic artefacts is not used to date spatially associated artefacts and
only in the case of Assemblage 10 and the ‘total assemblage’ was it possible to use
technology as a chronological indicator.
In the past, density was often simply equated with ‘sites’ and sites with settlement (see Schofield 1991b, 1991c; Carman 1999). This study uses a landscape
rather than a site-based approach, exploiting the defined terrestrial boundaries of the
island and the high-quality spatial data available for individual artefacts. The use
of the concept of ‘assemblages’, based on spatial data rather than density, allows
the incorporation of individual artefacts into an overall view of the collection and
the island (Fig. 14), while avoiding the problem of identifying ‘sites’. In reality, the
treatment of the material from Assemblages 10 and 11 is akin to considering them as
‘sites’, but as a preliminary view and particularly in relation to Assemblage 10 this
seems justified. The greatest concerns when taking a landscape perspective are problems of differential collection and exposure; we should remember that distribution
maps of find-spots and densities are a reflection of those conditions. The reality is
that artefacts were only collected from broken ground and the majority of the island
19
Brian Dolan and Gabriel Cooney
20
FIG. 13—Map of diagnostic artefacts. © Ordnance Survey Ireland/Government of Ireland. Copyright Permit No. MP 001610.
Lambay lithics: the analysis of two surface collections
FIG. 14—Map of artefact density across the island, excluding confidence levels 5–7.
has a cover of grass or rougher vegetation. For this reason discussions of density will
consider areas of both presence and absence, attempting to interpret both the former
and the latter.
Chronology
In Ireland, understandings of lithic technological change have a lower chronological
resolution than in Britain and can only be used for dating purposes in the broadest
way, even within excavated assemblages (Brady 2007a, 180; Woodman et al. 2006,
126). The technological evidence from Lambay suggests that the lithic assemblage
has a dominantly later prehistoric character. This is based on the large number of
single-platform, hard hammer cores, some evidence of bipolar working, irregular
cores and scrapers and a predominance of small regular flakes with some blades.
There is an absence of any Early Mesolithic diagnostic forms, particularly microliths. Two small, conical blade cores (Fig 5: C05.1:0456, C05.1:0540; Fig. 13) very
21
Brian Dolan and Gabriel Cooney
similar to those indicative of the period (Costa et al. 2005) cannot be seen as diagnostic but are suggestive of Early Mesolithic activity. Similarly, three uni-plane or
uni-facial cores (Fig. 5: C05.1:0174, C05.1:0022, C05.1:0192; Fig. 13) found along
a restricted stretch of the south-west shoreline (one is a beach find but is fresh and
probably had not moved far) suggest a Late Mesolithic date (Woodman et al. 2006,
111).
A small number of diagnostic artefacts provide some slightly more definite
chronological evidence for the assemblage (Table 7). Probably the most significant
find is a Late Mesolithic butt-trimmed flake (Fig. 5: C05.1:0199) from the south of
the island (Fig. 13). It is a Type A tanged-form (Woodman et al. 2006, 120), one of
the earliest butt-trimmed forms found at Newferry, Co. Antrim (Woodman 1977;
1978, 82–87). A possible second butt-trimmed flake (Fig. 5: C05.1:0472) is broken and cannot be definitively classified. Later diagnostic evidence includes a rolled
leaf-shaped arrow-head (Fig. 5: C05.1:0322) probably dating to the early Neolithic
(Woodman et al. 2006, 181); and a small disc scraper (Fig. 5: C05.1:0331) with
steep, peripheral retouch creating a subcircular form that is likely to come from a
Beaker context (Woodman et al. 2006, 159). The frequency or absence of diagnostics in such a small assemblage cannot be read as reflecting the levels of activity or
absence of activity in particular periods. The numbers of diagnostics from different
periods vary and they constitute only a small fraction, even of complete assemblages
(Brady 2007a, 34). The chronological evidence presented here is preliminary and
future work on excavated assemblages and surface finds will enhance the picture
substantially.
Density
The movement of artefacts due to taphonomic processes has been discussed above,
as has the methodology used to mitigate these issues. Figure 14 is a product of this
methodology, showing only the 560 artefacts from 107 assemblages with a spatial
confidence level between one and four (Table 1). While the map in many cases does
not show the exact location of deposition of an artefact in prehistory or indeed the
exact find-spot, it is sufficiently accurate for its scale. It shows that while artefacts
TABLE 7—Diagnostic artefacts.
Name
Blade core
Blade core
Uni-facial core
Uni-facial core
Uni-facial core
Butt-trimmed flake
Possible butt-trimmed flake
Leaf-shaped arrow-head
Disc scraper
22
Estimated Date
Early Mesolithic?
Early Mesolithic?
Late Mesolithic?
Late Mesolithic?
Late Mesolithic?
Late Mesolithic
Late Mesolithic?
Neolithic
Early Bronze Age
Assemblage
51
63
68
7
66
43
–
102
103
Identification number
C05.1:0456
C05.1:0540
C05.1:0174
C05.1:0022
C05.1:0192
C05.1:0199
C05.1:0472
C05.1:0322
C05.1:0331
Lambay lithics: the analysis of two surface collections
have been collected from almost every part of the island, the density of these finds
is by no means uniform. The reasons behind these variations in density are a complex mixture of accumulation due to prehistoric activity over millennia, combined
with taphonomic issues of exposure and collection. Below we attempt to interpret
patterns of prehistoric inhabitation of the island from this complicated tangle of
relationships.
The coast
Perhaps the most striking pattern in the material is the large number of artefacts collected along the shoreline south of the harbour and west of Black Point (Fig. 14).
Almost all of the diagnostic artefacts were found in this area (Fig. 13). There is a
particularly unusual cluster of uni-plane cores (mentioned above) at the south-western tip of the island. To some extent this general pattern might be expected given that
this area is in the direct vicinity of the best beach sources of pebble flint on the island.
Another factor is the large number of rabbit burrows along the coast, particularly the
southern coast west of Black Point, around the harbour and west of the chapel. The
large number of burrows may, in some areas, be related to rabbits’ preference for
sandy soils (Harting 1986).
A number of assemblages (Fig. 14; 25, 9, 67, 68, 95, 97) contain finds collected from coastal exposures of raised beach material. These include platform cores,
flakes, blades and split pebbles. The combination of a concentration of prehistoric
activity in coastal locations close to the important flint sources, coastal erosion and
rabbit activity has created the significant density of artefacts in this area. While differential erosion is probably exaggerating the pattern seen in Figure 14, particularly
relative to areas with few finds, it is likely that it has some archaeological validity.
Light sandy soils, a sheltered location, availability of flint, access to coastal resources
and proximity to the beaches with easiest access to and from the island, particularly
from the Irish mainland, would have made this area a focus for settlement and/or
industrial activity at many times in prehistory, as it is today.
The character of the remainder of Lambay’s coastline contrasts sharply with
the western, particularly the south-western, coast. Heading east from Black Point
on the south coast all the way around to Scotch Point at the north-west there is an
almost total absence of lithic artefacts. To a large extent this is explained by steep
cliffs and slopes with the implication of limited or specialised use in prehistory. The
small quantities of artefacts that have been found have come from rabbit burrows,
which occur all around the coast.
The interior
Many locations in the interior of the island have produced very small assemblages
made up of one or two finds. These find-spots are spread all over the island, corresponding to areas where the ground is disturbed: at field-gates, burrows, tracks
and watering holes. Indeed, it is unusual for an area of disturbed ground not to have
23
Brian Dolan and Gabriel Cooney
yielded one or more lithics. These ‘background’ finds attest to widespread human
activity on the island in prehistory.
A small number of large assemblages or groups of assemblages can be discussed in more detail (for locations see Fig. 14). Assemblage 11 has already been
mentioned as an exceptional collection of associated finds found in an otherwise
generally low-density area. Assemblage 10 is located in an area with a number of
assemblages of a higher than average size. It is also located about 500m north-east of
the very large (14,000 objects) lithic assemblage (this is the non-porphyritic andesite material) from the Eagle’s Nest excavation (e.g. Cooney 2005; Dolan in prep.),
indicating the potential scale and density of the subsurface archaeology in the area.
Assemblage 10 also overlooks the valley of the largest stream on the island, which
runs north-east to enter the sea at Freshwater Bay. It is a sheltered location with
reasonably thick soil coverage and access to a landing area at Carrickdorrish. Other
large assemblages also occur in the vicinity of the island’s two other streams at
Raven’s Well and west of Black Point. These may indicate other areas with obvious
potential for occupation that were used repeatedly throughout prehistory, resulting
in a higher than average density. In this context it should be noted with regard to the
west coast that a stream ran westwards into the sea north of the chapel before it was
piped underground in modern times, so there was also a fresh water source in this
area. Here south of the harbour and in the vicinity of the chapel the coastal lithic
concentrations extend inland indicating that this was a significant area of repeated
prehistoric activity.
Lambay in context
24
In considering the wider cultural and landscape context of the surface collections from
the island, it is critical to approach the question from the perspective that Lambay
was not an isolated place. It has always been in easy reach of the mainland and
the other islands off Dublin’s coast (Cooney 2004b). On the other hand, the island
landscape was also not static through prehistory. Sea-level was as much as 5m lower
than current levels in the Mesolithic period (Brooks and Edwards 2006). Hence, the
island would have extended further west, certainly in the early Mesolithic, and the
western coastline of that period is now submerged. In contrast to the predominantly
open character of the island today, which is the result of millennia of human activity,
the range of wood species recognised in the charcoal from the Eagle’s Nest excavations indicate that there may have been areas of woodland on the island during the
fourth millennium BC (Ellen O’Carroll pers. comm.). Here the wider context of the
surface lithic collections during the Mesolithic and Neolithic is discussed.
Looking at the evidence of lithic collections from the mainland, Stacpoole
(1962) noted the abundance of prehistoric artefacts around Malahide. She also collected artefacts further north on the Dublin coastline. Surface-collected assemblages
from coastal Louth, Meath and Wicklow have also demonstrated the widespread
occurrence of lithics, with indications that the coastal area was a production zone
with worked material being moved inland (Guinan 1992; Collins 1997, see discussion in Brady 2007a).
Excavations at both Dalkey and Sutton have produced evidence of significant Late Mesolithic activity in the form of middens (Mitchell 1956, 1972; Liversage
Lambay lithics: the analysis of two surface collections
1968; Leon 2005; Woodman et al. 1997). On the mainland, fish traps have been found
dating to the Late Mesolithic in estuarine mud from the River Liffey (McQuade
and O’Donnell 2007) and butt-trimmed flakes are known from Dun Laoghaire,
Rathfarnham and Loughlinstown (Corlett 1999, 10). Clearly then, people were living within view of Lambay from the Mesolithic period onwards. Considering the
evidence for the use of other islands such as Dalkey and Howth during the period,
as well as the evidence for the wider Mesolithic use of islands (e.g. McCartan 2000,
2003; Mithen 2000) it is no surprise that we have definite evidence of the use of
Lambay from the Late Mesolithic, with strong indications that it was used from the
Early Mesolithic onwards. It seems likely that Mesolithic people, exploiting maritime
resources and using the sea for transport and communication were regular visitors to
Lambay. The rich and varied bird-life, with both resident and migratory species, that
is a feature of the island today would have been one important resource, as is the probability that there would have been a breeding population of seals. One of the important aspects of the current Lambay seal population is the presence of both harbour (or
common) seals and grey seals. Harbour seal pups are born in midsummer while grey
seal pups are born between September and December (see Cabot 1999, 378–86; Nairn
2005, 42–3). And of course there was the deep, enduring attraction of travelling to an
island. For people who were aware of the power of the sea and guided by its daily and
seasonal rhythms islands were important places, seamarks and landmarks, where the
land begins (Nicholson 2001, 61; see discussion in Warren 2000). The cosmological
significance of islands for European Mesolithic societies has been widely recognised
and discussed (e.g. Schulting 1998; Bradley 2000; O’Sullivan 2002).
Dalkey and Sutton both produced evidence for continued use in the Neolithic
while a number of Neolithic sites have been found on the mainland (see Stout and
Stout 1992 for general discussion). The first, at Feltrim Hill, near Malahide, produced a large assemblage of Neolithic lithics (Hartnett and Eogan 1964). Close by
at Paddy’s Hill, a dense cluster of artefacts revealed by ploughing was excavated in
1983 (Keeling and Keeley 1994). This assemblage was mainly from the plough-zone,
but a pit containing material, interpreted as the remains of a knapping floor, including flint, charcoal, bone fragments, hammer-stones, part of a porcellanite axe-head
and a quantity of periwinkle shells, was excavated and dated to the Late Neolithic
or Early Bronze Age. This pit deposit is reminiscent of the structured deposits at the
Eagle’s Nest on Lambay (Cooney 2005), those recognised on Dalkey (Leon 2005)
and Neolithic pit deposits in Britain (e.g. Edmonds 1995, 42–5; Garrow et al. 2005;
Lamdin-Whymark 2008, 100–37).
Guinan (1992) analysed Stacpoole’s unsystematic surface collection, as well
as a small systematic collection of his own, from Barnageeragh, north of Skerries. This
demonstrated the intensity of prehistoric settlement in the area, and Guinan interpreted
the collections as evidence of sedentary Neolithic activity with the possibility of a
Bronze Age element (1992, 119). Subsequent development-led survey and excavation
here revealed the presence of multi-period prehistoric activity, with extensive Neolithic
occupation, including structures (Baker 2006; Corcoran 2009). Other development-led
excavations in the north Dublin coastal zone, for example at Lusk (McCabe 2003) and
Beaverstown, Donabate (Hagen 2004), demonstrate that Neolithic activity was widespread in this area. An early Neolithic rectangular house was identified in excavations
25
Brian Dolan and Gabriel Cooney
at Flemington, north-west of Balbriggan (Bolger 2009, 25–6). While the focus of monumental Neolithic evidence from Dublin comes from south of the Liffey in what could
be termed a zone of preservation in the Dublin/Wicklow mountains (Cooney 2000,
143–5), in the north of the county, there is a portal tomb on Howth (Ó’Nualláin 1983).
The passage tomb on the coast at Knocklea, near Rush (Newenham 1836–40), facing
Lambay, forms part of a coastal group extending north to Bremore and Gormanston
(Rynne 1960; Herity 1974; Cooney 2007a; Baker 2009, 91).
This brief overview of the Neolithic evidence from the coastal area of Dublin
indicates substantial activity on the mainland with continued use of offshore islands.
A key link that connects Lambay to this coastal zone of activity is the occurrence of
a small number of porphyry (porphyritic andesite) axe-heads from the Eagle’s Nest
source on Lambay. For example, they occur in the assemblage from Feltrim Hill
(Harnett and Eogan 1964, 17; Stephen Mandal pers. comm.). The construction of the
cairn on Knockbane was clearly located to be a landmark, widely visible when seen
from the Irish coast. In these two aspects of working stone, the quarrying of porphyry
for axe-heads and the construction of monuments we see how the use and perception of
Lambay may have changed between the Mesolithic and Neolithic. It is clear that during the Neolithic the island was occupied regularly at least on a seasonal basis, and the
question of whether there was a resident population on the island is one of the foci of the
analysis of materials from the Eagle’s Nest excavation. The use of the sea and islands
may now have also been more to do with communication and contact, with the islands
featuring as nodes in a pattern of exchange involving stone objects and other items in a
new network of social relations, extending over land and sea in which we see the use of
both local and distant sources (Cooney 2007b; Cooney 2008 with references). Certainly
by the later fourth millennium BC Lambay was part of a sea-based web of communication focused on the passage tomb tradition, as evidenced in the material from the Eagle’s
Nest excavation (Cooney 2005, 26; see wider discussion in Sheridan 2004).
Evidence for these links to a wider Irish Sea community in the Lambay
surface collection is limited but one artefact is particularly relevant to the discussion. There was one pitchstone artefact, mentioned briefly above, identified from the
assemblage (Fig. 5; C05.1:0318). It was found in gravel on the shore beside the south
harbour wall and is a retouched irregular flake. Pitchstone is a type of volcanic glass
found quite widely in the British Tertiary Volcanic Province in both Scotland and
Northern Ireland, but geochemical analysis suggests there is only one known archaeological source, on the Island of Arran in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland (Thorpe and
Thorpe 1984; Ballin 2009, 41). Pitchstone artefacts are found throughout Scotland,
northern England and north-east Ireland. Ballin (2009, 27–39) has demonstrated
that in most of northern Britain pitchstone use and exchange may have been largely
Early Neolithic in date (with Mesolithic use on Arran itself). While on Arran, Argyll
and Bute, parts of the Southern Hebrides and Orkney pitchstone use continued into
the Late Neolithic and with the exception of the latter area to the end of the Early
Bronze Age. The pitchstone found on Lambay is classic Arran pitchstone (Graeme
Warren pers. comm.), indicating that inhabitants of, or visitors to, Lambay were
engaging in direct or indirect contact with the island of Arran 275km to the north. It
is the most southerly pitchstone find in Ireland (Ballin 2009, 70). Given the striking
appearance of pitchstone, its movement over long distances and its association with
26
Lambay lithics: the analysis of two surface collections
a single source, in all likelihood it would have had significant symbolic resonance.
The coastal site of Ballygalley, Co. Antrim (Simpson and Meighan 1999), has a
major concentration of pitchstone. It is clear that pitchstone formed part of a system
of exchange in materials across the north Irish Sea also certainly also involving
flint axes and other artefacts and porcellanite axes from north-east Ireland (Cooney
2000, 224–8). Pitchstone has also been identified on Rathlin (Conway 1996; Mandal
2008), an island where the porcellanite outcrop at Brockley was one of the two major
porcellanite sources used for the production of stone axe-heads during the Neolithic
(Cooney and Mandal 1998, 58; Cooney 2000, 190–204).
The pitchstone artefact would have been used in a local context on Lambay
and it is a good example of how we can see the active interplay between a regional
cultural milieu and its reworking at a local, island level (Robb 2001, 196). Looking
more widely at the distribution of the lithics across Lambay, they indicate both ongoing widespread activity and also what could be termed persistent places where there
are significant assemblages of material. These seem to transcend specific periods and
may indicate some of the key nodes of activity on the island. They are also crucial
in terms of understanding the nature and island context of the Neolithic activity at
the Eagle’s Nest site where porphyry was worked, a series of deliberate deposits
placed and which during the course of the Neolithic became a locus to which people
brought and deposited a range of other material (Cooney 2005).
The result of the analysis of the two lithic collections provides a new understanding of Lambay’s prehistoric landscape; a view which has enabled us to complement the detailed perspective gained through excavation at the Eagle’s Nest to
provide an impression of the real extent of people’s activities on Lambay in prehistory. Certainly, during the Neolithic the island was used extensively and analysis of
the Lambay surface collection has contributed to our understanding of those activities and further demonstrated the significance and potential of surface scatters for
enhancing our knowledge of prehistoric landscapes.
Acknowledgements The research on which this paper is based was undertaken in the context of a dissertation (by Dolan) for an MA in Landscape Archaeology at the UCD School
of Archaeology as part of the wider, long-term Lambay Archaeological Project
(directed by Cooney). We would like to thank Beatrice Kelly for access to the lithic
material she collected on Lambay. The authors would also like to thank Graeme
Warren, Stephen Mandal, Niall Kenny and Kim Rice for valuable comments on the
paper; Ursula Mattenburger for drawing the artefacts in Figure 5 and Rob Sands and
Conor McDermott for help with illustrations. We also wish to thank Conor Brady
for allowing access to his doctoral research and for discussion. We are very grateful to Patrick and Margaret Kelly and the Lambay Island Trust for their hospitality
while visiting the island and their continuing support. Patrick Kelly also found the
pitchstone artefact. This paper was submitted while one of the authors (Dolan) was
the holder of an IRCHSS Government of Ireland doctoral scholarship and an NUI
Travelling Studentship in the Humanities and Social Sciences. The authors would
like to express their appreciation for the support of the UCD School of Archaeology
and the UCD Humanities Institute of Ireland. The paper also benefited from the comments of the referee for which we are very grateful.
27
Brian Dolan and Gabriel Cooney
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