Lissa and I taught a class on Anglo-Saxon and Irish Typographies and Beads. This is my section of the class.
GLASS
BEADS IN EARLY MEDIEVAL IRELAND
Irish Beads vs. Anglo-Saxon,
Scandinavian and European Beads:
Anglo-Saxon beads, along with Scandinavian and European beads have
typically been found in grave sites, as it was the custom to be buried with
their finest. However, Christianity was well established in Ireland during the
period in which beads were made. The Christian Irish primarily utilized
unaccompanied burials so beads were not typically found in graves. Instead the
Irish beads were typically found in settlement sites (i.e. a site where a group
of people lived for a period of time) or in Royal sites. However, these
excavations generally did not yield large assemblages or groups of beads. In
fact, the beads were originally thought to be lost or strays and insignificant.
Older excavation reports typically did not contain many descriptions of the
beads found. Without large assemblages from individual excavation sites, it
made researching beads in Ireland difficult.
Mannion’s Typography:
While assessing the beads from different
excavation sites across Ireland, Irish Archaeologist, Dr. Margaret (Mags)
Mannion noted common features of color, form, and size amongst the individual
beads. Dr. Mannion was then able to establish a unified classification system with
standardized terminology to compare these beads by creating
a combined corpus of 419 beads from excavation sites across
northeastern, central, eastern and
southern Ireland. She utilized similar methodology and protocols as
those used by archaeologists researching beads from other areas such
Anglo-Saxons thereby creating a comparable level of bead study across cultures.
Her standardized system classified beads by distinct classes of color and form. The Classification
Table has the Irish beads divided into 2 main categories: plain and decorated
beads. The plain beads are classified by their shapes (e.g., annular, globular,
spherical) and color. The decorated beads are classified by their form (e.g.
shape and size) and decoration. This uniform classification system provides a
database of the beads with information on the locations in which they were
found, the age of the beads, their production and their social performance. The
decorative motifs on some of the insular beads (i.e. made in Ireland) reflect
designs from early period Ireland such as spirals, horns and eyes that were
found in Iron Age graves. (Appendix I)
Dr. Mannion also catalogued imported
Roman,
Frankish, Anglo-Saxon, Viking, German, and Merovingian beads
that were found in excavation sites across Ireland. (Appendix I) These beads
matched those found in excavations in their countries of origin. Also, more
imported beads were found on sites where other imported goods such as pottery
and glass had been found. These imported beads indicate that Irish society
connected with Anglo-Saxon England and Continental Europe. Irish bead makers
may have incorporated their styles into their own bead making, and may have
reproduced imported beads given the quantity of certain types of imported beads
that were found.
Irish excavation sites:
The beads found at these sites were used for the creation of
Mannion’s Classification Table. The Crannógs were royal
sites, the Ringforts were settlement sites, and the Ecclesiastical locations
were religious sites. (Appendix II)
Deer Park Farms ringfort, Co. Antrim
Lagore
Crannóg, Co. Meath
Clonmacnoise
Ecclesiastical, Centre, Co. Offaly
Cahrlehillian
Ecclesiastical Settlement, Co Kerry
Garranes ringfort,
Co. Cork
Two
Ring-Forts at Garryduff, Co. Cork
Ballinderry
Crannóg No. 2, Co. Offaly
Ballydoo Ecclesiastical
Enclosure, Co. Armagh
I reproduced several of Irish and
imported beads found in a variety of excavation sites such as Lagore Crannóg,
Deer Park Farms, Clonmacnoise Ecclesiastical Centre, Garranes Ringfort, and
Garryduff 1 Ringfort. I have reproduced the Irish Segmented, Herringbone,
Mulberry, Spiral Form, Annular and Globular beads, and the Imported Melon and
Stripped, Spiral Beads.
Social Meaning and Dress:
Where beads were found within
excavation sites provide information on the dating of the beads and on the
social context or significance of the beads. Chemical analysis of beads gives
information on the glass used to make the bead, but not the bead itself.
Instead, radio carbon dating of the materials in the context or location in
which the bead was found indicates the age of the bead. In these excavation
sites radio carbon dating was done on samples of contexts such as charcoal,
burnt material, oak timbers, organic material in the layer, E ware, bedding
material, and floor layers. The beads found were dated from as early as 5th
century AD to as late as 12th century AD.
Though most beads were not found in
grave sites there were some. A recent excavation at Parknahown 5 Co. Laois, a
settlement and cemetery site, revealed 3 beads in the clavicle of a woman. They
are suspected to have been a necklace, and have been dated to 660-830 AD (i.e.,
O’Neill 2010, 251-260). Another recent excavation at Faughart Lower, Co. Louth
found a group of beads in the neck area in a grave (Buckley and McConway 2010,
49-59). Beads from grave sites are thought to be what people wore more for
special occasions than those they wore in everyday life.
The beads found in royal and
settlement sites such as Lagore Crannóg and Deer Park Farms, respectively, are
thought to show more about everyday life and dress. A grouping of 11 blue and
white beads, which I recreated, were found in the bedding in one of the
homestead structures at the Deer Park Farms ring fort in County Antrim and are
dated to 660-780 A.D. Though there was no string present archaeologists surmise
that the beads may have been strung as a necklace based on their proximity to
one another. The groups of beads found in the aforementioned grave sites may
also support the thought that these beads would have been strung and worn as
necklaces (i.e., though in everyday life). The different groupings of beads
also indicate that the number and type of beads strung was varied.
Strings of beads can provide researchers
with important information regarding the wearer of beads as well as the beads
themselves. Analysis of the combinations of beads strung may show the ratio of
insular to imported beads and may show whether beads from different periods
were strung together; were earlier period beads still used along with “newer”
beads? The strings of beads may also give information on the region the beads
were used along with the age, gender and social status of the wearer.
Glass beads were used as decoration on bronze and iron pins and brooches, and were used
both functionally to fasten a garment like a brat or cloak and as objects of
status. Beads and pins with beads were found in Royal sites often near
jewelry of known high-status, which indicated they too were valued and worn by
people of high status such as a bronze ring pin with an annular blue bead found
at Lagore Crannóg, which I recreated using modern wire. A similar find from
Moynagh Lough, Co. Meath has a radiocarbon dating of 7th to 8th
century A.D.
Pin heads decorated with glass were
found at several sites (e.g. Deer Park Farms, Movilla Abbey and Drummiller
Rocks, Dromore, Co. Down). They may have been used in
the hair or as part of a headdress. A glass topped pin from Deer Park Farms was
dated
mid-7th century to late-10th century A.D. I recreated a
much simpler version using a modern pin. Beads were also found at
Ecclesiastical Centers and were used for ecclesiastical
ornaments and as decorative embellishments on Shrines.
Lastly, the color of the beads found across the
Irish excavation sites may be of significance. Blue is a prominent color seen
in Irish beads yet researchers can only presume the meaning or social context.
The word “glas” in old Irish could be used for blue, green and grey. Early
Irish literature from the 8th century (Siewers 2005, 31) discusses
the “Colors of Martyrdom” found in the Camdrai Homily: bánmartre (white
martyrdom), dercmartre (red martyrdom), glasmatre (blue/green/grey martyrdom). One thought is that
these Colors of Martyrdom may have influenced the color choices of bead makers.
Another thought is that the blue
may represent the water and sky of Ireland, green may represent grass and
vegetation, and gray may represent the rocks and cliffs of Ireland.
References:
Hencken, H. (1950, November). Lagore
Crannog: An Irish Royal Residence of the 7th to 10th Centuries A.D. [Abstract]. Proceeding
of the Royal Irish Academy, 1-151.
Lynn, C., & McDowell, J. A.
(2011). Deer Park Farms: The excavation of a raised rath in the Glenarm Valley, Co. Antrim. Norwich: Stationery Office. Chapters 1, 18, 34 and 35
Mannion, Margaret. (2013). An
Examination of Glass Beads from Early MedievalIreland. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved
from ARAN-Access to Research at NUI Galway. URI: http://aran.library.nuigalway.ie/xmlui/handle/10379/3724
Mannion, M. (2015). Glass beads
from early medieval Ireland: Classification, dating, social performance. Oxford: Archaeopress.
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