814 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MAY 14, 1928. BRONZE'AGE GOLD ORNAMENTS FOUN ARRADN I WIGTOWND NAN - SHIRE, WITH SUGGESTIONS AS TO THEIR METHOD OP USE. BY LUDOVIC M'L. MANN, P.S.A.ScoT. About 25th February 1921, Mr Finlay Kerr, while searching for building-stones for a new house at his mother's farm of Whitefarland, Kilmory Parishe north-westh n o , t coas f p somArrano tu g e du slab, s ROCKY GROUND WITH NATURAL WOOD BURIAL GROUND ~——J^DlNARY SPRING TIDLS X H 5 Hi& o uj a.3 ORDnNARY__££FUNG TIDE.S KILBRANNA^4 50UND IOO O IOO 2OO 3OO 1OO 5OO 600 FE.E.T Fig. 1. Map showing Sites of Finds. of the native schistoze rock which were lying roughly and deeply set togethe flae th t n stretci re 25-foo th f ho t raised beach. Som fee2 e t unde e surfacth r e picke h ea gol p du d bracelet-like object in perfect condition, weighing 3-Q3Q oz. It was kept in the farmhous somr efo e weeks thed ,an nAngu r senM o t ts Stewart, Jeweller, Buchanan Street, Glasgow showeo severao wh ,t t di l persons. BrotchieF M . r C Stewart . r CharleT M , r M . ,Whitelaw E s d an , myselfe hop th f bein o en i , g abl o complett e a e recorcir th -f o d cumstance o securt d ean s associated objects, wen o Whitefarlandt t . The place of the find (A in fig. 1) is 65 yards south of the steading GOLD ORNAMENTS FOUN ARRAN DI WIGTOWNSHIRED NAN 5 31 . sea-cliffd anol d e t neatha a th fooe , f th tro t poin smala t l declivity. For years the plough has been worked round the spot without disturbin t gi muc h becaus e outcroppinth g f du o ee slabs e th W f .o g ove riddled e sitth an re e soildth , encountering many rock fragments water-rolled an d stones embedde e soith l n washei d p to d e dowth n no of the old raised-beach gravel. No definitely built structure was noticedo absoluteln d an , y clear evidence coul e obtaineb d d thae th t place had either been a tomb or a dwelling. e investigationth f o e y firsOth nda t I sturne withip w u dfe a n inches of the place where the first object had been discovered a very fine, hollow, penannular rin f golo g f triangulao d r section, alsn i o perfect condition, weighing '255 oz. An artificially cup-marked rocs note yard7 wa k 11 d foo 1 s t south e discovere placth oth fee6 ff o ed t yan north-eas a bench-mark f o t , the altitude of which is indicated in the Ordnance Survey chart as 25-3 feet (B in fig. 1). There were also found abou o dozetw t n fragment f pottero s y characteristic of a late phase of the Bronze Period, and belonging to two vessels each of a type used for domestic as well as sepulchral purposes. Such pots have been occasionally found associated wit r containino h g objects of gold. The shards discovered belong to hand-made vessels, but only a few details can be made out because of the small number and size of the fragments e largeTh .r vesse s biscuit-colourei l e outed th an n r o d black on the inner surface. One fragment shows that its wall at place s beeha s n £ inc f coarso h s thicki e t I . texture, and the paste has been mixed with small pounded piece f stono s e evidentlo t y t crackinprevenpo e th tg durin e procesth g s of firing. The outer surface of the pot has been coated with a thin layer of fine clay in a finishing process before firing. On a fragment being placed in hot water this skin peeled off cleanly. The smaller vessel has been of dark colour, and may have been decorated by slight horizontal flutings. It has had a plain rounded rim Fig. 2. Penannular Gold Orna- . ment from Arran. (f) The smaller of the Arran rings (fig. £) be- long well-recognisea o st d clas f smallso , hollow, penannular ornaments of triangular section, made of three thin plates of gold fixed together without solderin d merelan g y overlappinb y e edge th d gclosin an s g them tigh hammeringy b t e plate Th e skilfull. ar s y joine turniny db g 316 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MAY 14, 1923. plate e edgeon eth f o ove e otherr th e thainnee edgef th th o , t t ra s circumference being held apart by another plate (in the Arran specimen •6 inch wide) with V-shaped ends, which thus wall-i e holloe nth th f wo ring. The relic is i'65 inch in diameter externally and •? inch internally. There are eleven of these objects in the Irish National Museum — not one wit detaileha d histor s discoverit f yo r associateo y d relics. Five e completear t onlbu , yperfec n i thre e ar et condition weighte Th . f o s the five vary from '254 oz. to '783 oz. Lord Inchiquin has two Irish specimens weighin average sevee Th th '30 d . gf en9an o oz '31 . know5oz n complete Irish specimens is '446 oz. Though evidence in support is not forthcoming, they have been usually considered to be ear-rings. Attachment to the ear would be difficult, specimeo n d an n show sucw ho sh fixing could have been made. That they were hair ornament s mori s e probable n earlI . y historic times n Irelani d gold objects wer e hair th use ,n i daccordin o Irischet g Texte (iii. p. 550), but their nature is obscure. The historically recorded example havy sma e bee f muco n h later type, like objectth e f golo s d stil Dutce lth haie wory th hb r n peasantryni . These rare, little, penannular, prehistoric objects under review were probably coiffure bands s wel A s beina l. g concentrically fluted, they e sometimear s decorated wit a hban f incisedo d diagonal liner o s row f inciseo s d dots along eithe e brear th sid f k o ee e ring i1 th nTh . Arran specime s plaini n . Small penannular objects somewhat similar, usually porphyryred of , have been foun haidas r ornament Egyptiason n mummies, locks of hair apparently having been pressed through the e sidtightlbread th ean n ki y fillin ringe th g . Such ring f Britiso s d Irishan h type occur onl n golyi d hav dan e not been found on the Continent. Being of particularly fine workman- ship, they demonstrate better than almos othey an t r kin f goldo d relic e higth h degre f skileo l attaine Britise th Irisd y db han h goldsmithf so the Bronze Age. The Arran specimen is the third found in the west of Scotland and the eighth in the whole of Scotland, as against fifteen recorded from Ireland, three fro e nortmth f Englandho , and e fro e norton .m th f ho Wales. -Their home, therefore, was probably Scotland or Ireland. Fig . Penannula.3 . r • <• i 10 • i Golol . dOrnamen A perfec d t beautifuan t l example found without ucen roe .m d. ) ,jefini^e}y associated relic n i Wigtownshires , neae th r boundary betwee e parisheth n f Luco d sStoneykir an e d abouan k t i mile fro high-watee mth r mar ks perhap i (fig, 3) .smalles e th s t known, weighing onls externaIt y . '.07oz 0 l diamete s '7i r5 inch s thicknesit , s e diamete'2th inch d an f ,orific o r e '4 s ornamenteinchi t I . eithen do r GOLD ORNAMENTS FOUND IN ARRAN AND WIGTOWNSHIRE. 317 exterior surface with eight concentric flutings workee hanth y db n do gold platgravina y eb g tool. The remaining Scottish examples, which are quite plain, are all preserved in the National Museum. One of '550 oz. was found in 1856 wes e mosa th f Scotland n to i n si precise Th . e t localitdiscloseno s ywa d owing to a mistaken fear of the ancient law of treasure trove. It was hoarpara f to whicf do h there surviv ea pai f plaino r , solid, penannular gold armlets, slightly e side oval e endd on opeth , an t s, a nthickene d and flattened into button-like extremities. The three objects from this Fig . Penannula.4 r Gold Ornament with cup-shaped ends from Arran. (£.) hoard were bought by a jeweller in Dumbarton, who sold them to Mr Peter Denny, from whom they passeMuseume th o dt . Another, which, e othersth lik l s triangulaal ei , sectionn i r s discoveredwa , , somewhat crushed, in 1811 at the digging of a gravel pit at Gogar House, Corstorphine same t werth epi n I e. foun bronzda e sword with scabbard same th f e o period bronzp a ti d ,an e brooch undoubtedl mucf yo h later times. Therevidenco n s i e e thae last-mentioneth t d relis founwa c d directly associated with the others. Four were found at Balmashanner, Forfarshire, with three other small penannular gold ornaments possessing bronze cores socketea , d axe, twelve penannular armlets ringsn ,te d an , parbowlbronzef a o f necklac a l o t d al , an , thirty-onf eo e bead f ambeo s r f rouno d flattenet je dan foud f an o r d speroidal form.