Stone Axe Factories Near Cushendall, County Antrim Author(S): W
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Stone Axe Factories Near Cushendall, County Antrim Author(s): W. J. Knowles Source: The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 33 (Jul. - Dec., 1903), pp. 360-366 Published by: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2842816 . Accessed: 15/06/2014 12:02 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 91.229.229.129 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 12:02:29 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ( 360 ) STONE AXE FACTOPRIES NEAR CUSHENDALL, COUNTY ANTRITM. BY W. J. KNOWLES. [WITH PLATES XXXI-XXXVIII.] SEVERALsites in which stone axes have been manufactured are known in coulntyAntrini, but none of them have been carefiullyexamined. The rough unpolishedaxes fromRathlin Island are well known,anid most antiquarieshave specimensfroum that place in their collectioils. A number of axes, dressed into shape by chipping,but unipolished,had been broughtto me from time to time fronithe neighbourhoodof Clough, near Ballyinena, but I had obtained no flakes,broken axes, or anythingof the nature of a failure. Suspecting that therehad beeii a manufactorysomewhere in that district,in order to investigate the matter,I made frequentvisits to the place a few years ago. Oni inquiry,I obtainedsome flakesof black stone and some poor and broken specimens of axes. I concluded that there must have been a centre of manufacturein the farm belongingto Mr. JohblCrawford of Glenleslie,and that possiblyother sites existed in leighbouringtownlands. I encouragedthe farmersand labourersto collect the flakesand brokeniaxes, and each market day in Ballymnenaspecimens, in greater or smallernumbers, were broughtto me. I soon receivedquite a large series of flakes,broken axes and failuresor partiallymade axes, chieflyfromn the townlaiids of Glenleslie,Tullykittaoh, and Moneydufinear the village of Clough. Many of the specimiiens,though considered of littlevalue, were interestingand instructive, anidI foundthat many of the flakeswere dressedround the edges into pointsand scrapers. Though there were undotubtedlyone or ilmoresites of manufacturein this district,the land oniwhich theystood had been so long under-cultivation, that theyhad been almost obliterated. A miiannamed Henry Green,a sortof pedlar,seeiiig me buy poor objects like black flakes,shortly afterwards brought me a numberof flakesof black rock from near Cushendall,founid in a fieldbelonging to Mr. PtichardMcCurry of Tamnaliarry or Taviiagharryin BallyemonGlen. This being a new place forsuch objects, I went thereimmediately, and found that the field contained a well-markedsite of an axe factory. The land had only recentlybeen brokenup for cultivation,andl the while process of manufactureof axes was plainly exhibited. Pieces of natural rock partlychipped, rough axes, somiieof which were broken,flakes anid hanmmer- This content downloaded from 91.229.229.129 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 12:02:29 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions W. J. KNOWLES.-Stone Axe Factoriesnear cushendall,Cotnty Antrim. 361 stones,were lyingaround in considerablenumbers. Nothinighad been removed, unless it was so large, that it initerferedwith the plough, as the objects were consideredof nio value. The hammerstoneswere miiostlyrounded balls, of black stone,the saine as that fromiiwhich the axes were made; buit a few quartzite boulders,hammered on the enids,were also found. The flakes were, as a rule, short and broad,and such as had been struck offin the manufactureof axes. Many had wingsprojecting froml- one or both sides of the bulb of percussion,and some were dressedinto spear-likepoints and scrapers. A few core-likepieces and loingflakes were found,but I saw no evidence that this kind of rock had beeln used, like flintfor procuring flakes, for the flakes alone. Flint is found in the neighbourlhood,and manaylong flakesanld scrapers of that inaterialwere found in and around the siles, but the waste flakes of the manufactorieswere also used abundantlyfor all purposes of cutting and scraping. The field conitainingthese objects is on anl elevated part of McCurry'sfarm, and in view of the sea. The prospectis delightful,but I ain not sure that the axe-nmakersresided here or used the place foraiiything but a manufacturingsite, as I saw nio kitchenimiddens or remainsof food,such as slhell-fishand split bones of animals; nor wvasthere any fragmentsof pottery,such as accompanied the manufactoriesof flintimplements at While Park bay and otherplaces round the coast. Aftercollectinog a large niumberof articlesin this field,I examinedother fields in the neighlbourhood,findinig imianv comparatively barren of flakesand imnplements. Eventually,I found another site in Mr. James Quinn's farmin Clougheen,about half-a-miledistant from the site on McCurry'sfarm. The place which showedthe greatest evidence of mianufacturewas around a damp spot in one of his fields. Probablythere was a well here originally,and the people may have sat round it and muanufacturedtheir axes. I collecteda good many objects fromthis site,but thoughnone of the objects lhadbeemi previously removed, the land had beenla good deal cultivated,and thereforethis site had not the freshnessof the one previouisly described. I founld,in this case also, that as one moved away fromthe site,the objectsbecame scarcer. Fromnthis farm-l,it is about lhalf-a-mileto a small house which has been erected for a herd near Tievebulliagh,a peak 1,346 feet high. Around thishouse miianyobjects were collected,and at one spot wherea fencehad been made and some sward removed,I lhavepicked axes, flakes,an(d hamml-erstones, out of the bared ground,and also out of the sods whichbad been put on the fence. A fieldin frontof the house, which was the only piece of land brouglhtunder cultivationin this neighbourhood,was full of flakesand riidepieces of rock.manay of whichwere partiallychipped. Here, as in the other sites,nothing had been removed,ulnless it was large and impededthe plough,in whichcase it was carried to the fence. Farmersare surprisedthat such poor objects should have any value, and when sloIWDa large axe, theyassert that theyoften put such objectsin drains. I canlbelieve this,as the finestspecimiiell I have was used as a wedge to fastelnone of the stakes in a byre,or cowhouse,to which cows are tied duringthe night, I ml-adefrequtenit visits to these alnd other sites,and had perfect libertyto walk This content downloaded from 91.229.229.129 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 12:02:29 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 362 W. J. KNOWLES.-StoneAxe Factoriesnear Cusshendall,Coo'ty Antrimn. over the fieldsand examineand collectwithout hindrance. The youingpeople on the various farmns,when theyknew the kind of objects that were desired,collected themfor me, and oftenmy collection was so large,that I was obliged to employa horseand cart to conveyit to the railway station. I extendedmy surveyover the whole Glen of Ballyemnon,and foundother sites and obtainedspecimens, similar to those already enumerated,every time I went round. The proper season is the spring,when land is being ploughed and harrowed,or at the time of diggingthe potatoes in the autumn. In the sumnmerno search was made, as trespass on the fieldsat that time would have been injuriousto the growingcrops. At this season I exploredthe part of the district outside the area of cultivation,in the high land surroundingthe valley. My wife aindI went to Cushendallfor a short holiday,and spent our timein wanderingabout the hills. One day in climbingto the top of Tievebulliagh,we came on a place where the peat and soil had been denudedand washed away, revealingseveral sites whichhad never beell disturbed. We found a great many axes, broken specimnens,and partially worked objects, roundedhammerstones of black rock,and some large ones made of waterworn boulders of quartzite. The flakes were in thousands,and many of them were workedalong the edges into pointsand scrapers,like the " pointes" and " racloirs" of paleolithic time,which are describedand figuredby Frenchauthors. It took my wifeanid daughter, with myself,several days to remove all the manufactured object,s. I did not seek otherassistance, as nmyprevious finds had now come to be talked about,and I did not wish to reveal my discoveryon Tievebulliaghuntil I had mnadea thoroughinvestigation. The objects found on these sites were not mixed with soil, or partiallycovered up, as was the case with those fouiidin the cultivatedfields, but everythingwas seen as it was left by the early workmen. The peat at the sides of these bared places oftenistood up like banks, and I have taken specimenisfrom beneath the peat where it restedon the clay. The peat had thereforeformed after the workmenhad made the axes on the top of Tievebulliagh. All around this mountain thereare signs of an active and extensiveindustry in the manufactureof the black stone axes havingbeen carriedon. Even on the east side, whichis almost perpendicular,there are ledges on whiclhthey lhave sat and carriedon theirwork. Now, aftermany centuriesof denudationi,the talus formed at the footof Tievebulliaghis full of flakes, brokeii axes, alnd other signs of the industry. My wifeand I have gone to the talus on several occasionswith our small picks,anid have always been able to fillour bags with instructivespecimens. Maniyof the farmers'sons are now acquainted with this talus and its contents,and call it the quarry.