Seen & Found

coillte1

Hello
any ideas on this piece the pics are back and front the lines wrap around it so the marking are the same On both sides. It is heavy and looks and feels like stone
I'll post pics of the other pieces found close to it if any one is interested

coillte1

Same again pic of back and front on one side the edges are angled its heavy and definitely stone any ideas of date any one?

Sultan of Swing

coillte1 wrote: »

Hello
any ideas on this piece the pics are back and front the lines wrap around it so the marking are the same On both sides. It is heavy and looks and feels like stone
I'll post pics of the other pieces found close to it if any one is interested

That looks like a piece of metal to me and belongs to the other piece you posted originally.I can't think for the life of me what it belongs to.Could it be a fragment of a wing from an old plough??I'm really not sure!
The last item with the crazy pattern on it is strange.Is it a piece of modern ceramic pottery.It's always difficult to be sure about these things without examining them physically.Maybe someone else will have a better idea what they are.

coillte1

Hello
It's stone for sure I tried a magnet On it no reaction

pueblo

curious markings...could it be a fossil?

Tordelback

If the first one is definitely stone, then it's probably a honestone for sharpening a blade - an irregular and casual one, of ucertain date, but a hone nonetheless.

The second piece is fascinating, never seen anything quite like it - I wonder could it be natural?

Sultan of Swing

coillte1 wrote: »

Same again pic of back and front on one side the edges are angled its heavy and definitely stone any ideas of date any one?

I'm wondering if it could possibly be slag from the iron smelting process?When it cools it can in some cases form a honeycomb-like pattern,and I'm also led to believe not all iron slag is magnetic - see here: http://hist-met.org/hmsslagintro.pdf.

coillte1

I don't think the photos are good enough but look if any of ye are in Clare I'd gladly show them to ye

Fries-With-That

coillte1 wrote: »

I don't think the photos are good enough but look if any of ye are in Clare I'd gladly show them to ye

Hi Coillte1,

You have some nice unusual bits and bobs there, it might be easier for people to give you a better idea as to what they are if you could give an idea of the type of location you found them.

open field, quarry, river,demolished house ..........

I'm going to stick my neck out and hazard a guess based purely on what I can see from your pictures.

The pieces with all the straight lines look like burnt and blackened terracotta/clay pottery and I think that they are broken pieces of chimney liner/chimney pots with the lines being caused by many years of chimney cleaning using wire brushes.

The other bit with all the unusual shaped lines looks like a bit of terracotta that someone decided to carve a pattern into or the back of an old handmade tile.

I'm not an expert but that's what I see.

coillte1

Fries-With-That wrote: »

Hi Coillte1,

You have some nice unusual bits and bobs there, it might be easier for people to give you a better idea as to what they are if you could give an idea of the type of location you found them.

open field, quarry, river,demolished house ..........

I'm going to stick my neck out and hazard a guess based purely on what I can see from your pictures.

The pieces with all the straight lines look like burnt and blackened terracotta/clay pottery and I think that they are broken pieces of chimney liner/chimney pots with the lines being caused by many years of chimney cleaning using wire brushes.

The other bit with all the unusual shaped lines looks like a bit of terracotta that someone decided to carve a pattern into or the back of an old handmade tile.

I'm not an expert but that's what I see.

Hi ok the location is a fairly remote location on the coast which suffered alot of erosion from the winter storms
I brought them to an archeologist yesterday and was told I have stone tools do I've been put on to some one else so will get back to ye when I know more thanks

Fries-With-That

coillte1 wrote: »

Hi ok the location is a fairly remote location on the coast which suffered alot of erosion from the winter storms
I brought them to an archeologist yesterday and was told I have stone tools do I've been put on to some one else so will get back to ye when I know more thanks

That's fantastic news, you should report your find to The National Monuments Service ( nationalmonuments@environ.ie).

I'm sure they would be interested in the location especially if its only just been uncovered by coastal erosion.

12 element

Does anyone think the lines in the field are anything of interest.
The ring fort is on the national monuments site but no mention of the lines.

Simon.d

12 element wrote: »

Does anyone think the lines in the field are anything of interest.
The ring fort is on the national monuments site but no mention of the lines.

If you look at the 1830 maps you can see that they're likely from field boundaries, and the north/south linear follows the course of an old lane that had a number of buildings along it and what looks to be a farmyard at the end.

http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,518101,792772,7,7

Fries-With-That

I would be grateful if anyone can point me in the direction of some material on this area just outside Nenagh Co Tipperary.

Its a place called Grange Hill and Daniel O'Connell chose it as a location for one of his monster election rallies.

I remember as a child hearing about excavations being conducted here, but I can't find anything.

http://binged.it/1jW2HL5

slowburner

The SMR records it as a natural outcrop quarried for stone. Maybe the excavation you heard of was quarrying rather than an archaeological dig.

Tordelback

Fries-With-That wrote: »

Its a place called Grange Hill and Daniel O'Connell chose it as a location for one of his monster election rallies.

Could it be a bit of confusion with O'Connell's Monster Meeting at Tara?

Fries-With-That

Tordelback wrote: »

Could it be a bit of confusion with O'Connell's Monster Meeting at Tara?

No, there is no confusion there is mention of it (Nenagh Meeting)in the book The Story Of Daniel O'Connell, by Ultan Macken.

Thursday 25th May 1843 according to The Spectator there were 350,000 present, I'd imagine that over exaggeration was the order of the day and the figure was closer to 3500.

There was also a tree in this field known as O'Connells tree and was clearly marked on the OSI Historic 25" map.

It is also interesting to look at the OSI Ortho 2005, there is clearly a circular structure on top of the hill. This doesn't correspond with the Disused Lime kiln on the site, it also would not make sense to cart the stone to the top of the hill considering it is very steep.

bawn79

Fries-With-That wrote: »

No, there is no confusion there is mention of it (Nenagh Meeting)in the book The Story Of Daniel O'Connell, by Ultan Macken.

Thursday 25th May 1843 according to The Spectator there were 350,000 present, I'd imagine that over exaggeration was the order of the day and the figure was closer to 3500.

There was also a tree in this field known as O'Connells tree and was clearly marked on the OSI Historic 25" map.

It is also interesting to look at the OSI Ortho 2005, there is clearly a circular structure on top of the hill. This doesn't correspond with the Disused Lime kiln on the site, it also would not make sense to cart the stone to the top of the hill considering it is very steep.

I'd be very interested to hear more myself. I always wondered about that hill when passing, for some reason I had thought of it as the remains of something myself. Interesting to see O'Connells tree there alright http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,587412,682081,7,9
I'm not far from there at all, I might do a bit of a field walk and report back on anything interesting I can see. There is a bullaun stone a few fields away that I've been meaning to take a look at for a long while so good enough excuse.
The SMR info on the bullaun stone mentions "The townland name of 'Kyle' suggests the former presence of a church." so perhaps the hill has something to do with an early Christian site?

Tordelback

Didn't mean to imply there was confusion about the Meeting itself, rather that the association of excavations with the site of a Meeting was potentially extended to your site from Tara, which had both. I'd also have a suspicion that could be a conflation with the site at Grange Hill, Limerick (where there were excavations), or Grange Hill, Kidare (the so-called 'Chair of Kildare', inauguration site of the Earls of Kildare). Folk memory can be a slippery thing.

Equally, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find there is archaeology at Grange Hill (topography and the possible sun-association of the name), in fact I'd be surprised if there wasn't - I just can't find personally any reference to archaeological excavations there.

bawn79

Tordelback wrote: »

Didn't mean to imply there was confusion about the Meeting itself, rather that the association of excavations with the site of a Meeting was potentially extended to your site from Tara, which had both. I'd also have a suspicion that could be a conflation with the site at Grange Hill, Limerick (where there were excavations), or Grange Hill, Kidare (the so-called 'Chair of Kildare', inauguration site of the Earls of Kildare). Folk memory can be a slippery thing.

Equally, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find there is archaeology at Grange Hill (topography and the possible sun-association of the name), in fact I'd be surprised if there wasn't - I just can't find personally any reference to archaeological excavations there.

As an aside - were there excavations at Grange Hill in Limerick? I've never heard of any. Grange Lios yes but Grange Hill no.

So I guess the real question here to try and answer is whether there was an excavation on the hill? Any other info Fries-with-that regarding time-frames etc?

Fries-With-That

bawn79 wrote: »

As an aside - were there excavations at Grange Hill in Limerick? I've never heard of any. Grange Lios yes but Grange Hill no.

So I guess the real question here to try and answer is whether there was an excavation on the hill? Any other info Fries-with-that regarding time-frames etc?

No I haven't found anything yet, I'll be asking someone that lives locally in the next few days.

I also found a reference this morning that suggests Williams army camped at this location before setting off to lay siege to Limerick.

bawn79

Fries-With-That wrote: »

No I haven't found anything yet, I'll be asking someone that lives locally in the next few days.

I also found a reference this morning that suggests Williams army camped at this location before setting off to lay siege to Limerick.

I had a quick scout around Grange Hill there today. The hill itself is made from limestone and I'm thinking that is why the lime kiln was located there. https://www.flickr.com/photos/13367662@N06/14036968171/ I couldn't see any evidence of any kind of construction at ground-level. A lot of bumps - I'm thinking that is from the quarrying and refilling. Also there appear to have been some holes filled in with a different type of fill than limestone. https://www.flickr.com/photos/13367662@N06/14040165335/

What I can say about the site is that from the hill it tails away to form a natural terrace and perhaps that is a reason for it being picked as a place for the meeting. https://www.flickr.com/photos/13367662@N06/14040615434/ It has wide views all surrounding the hill, except to the east. One suggestion is that perhaps was the landowner involved in the movement or a supporter?

However against that, O'Connell did seem to try and use places such as Tara, tapping into the myth and legend surrounding them to add to his campaign.

I took a picture of what I think is O'Connell's tree. https://www.flickr.com/photos/13367662@N06/14036972061/

You should hopefully be able to see the other pics taken on grange hill in this folder https://www.flickr.com/photos/13367662@N06/sets/72157644362599911/

Fries-With-That

slowburner wrote: »

The SMR records it as a natural outcrop quarried for stone. Maybe the excavation you heard of was quarrying rather than an archaeological dig.

The information I got today was that there was some interest in the site possibly in the late 70's and there was an initial survey done with the intention of coming back at a later date to do a proper dig, this dig never went ahead.

I'm not sure if this is definitive as I still have a nagging in my head about hearing about an actual dig.

I need to do some more digging myself.

bawn79

Fries-With-That wrote: »

The information I got today was that there was some interest in the site possibly in the late 70's and there was an initial survey done with the intention of coming back at a later date to do a proper dig, this dig never went ahead.

I'm not sure if this is definitive as I still have a nagging in my head about hearing about an actual dig.

I need to do some more digging myself.

Its interesting - I wonder on what basis was the interest back in the 70's? Was there some folklore attached to the hill that prompted it? Is that the reason O'Connell choose it for his meeting, to tap into local folklore? I hope something turns up from your enquiries.

pueblo

Found this yesterday, fairly sure it's a worked piece of flint.

Is this a small core? or perhaps a broken blade?

Bonedigger

Another river find Pueblo?It looks water-rolled.
It doesn't look like a typical core - it's difficult to judge how thick it is from the images.
There appears to be what looks like a negative scar and ridge on what could be the dorsal side of the flake alright.Does there appear to be a platform at one end?
It looks like a fragment has broken off one of the lateral edges close to the distal end.It
may have been a small scraper perhaps?It's also possible it could just be a fragment of a
riverine flint pebble.If Jimmyarch was about,you'd get a definitive answer I'm sure.

pueblo

Thanks Bonedigger, yes river find, very rolled. Possible.

Would appreciate any input on the following 2 pieces (both from a riverine environment)

Possible Lissior? It's definitely bone, highly polished on one side. Tapers at the wider end to a very flat, smooth blade.








Unknown ceramic base. Green/brown glaze on inside.

slowburner

Good news for searchers.
US government restrictions on satellite imagery look as though they are about to be eased, and access to higher resolution images from Bing and Google Earth will follow.

http://http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-27868703

bawn79

My nephew (only 3!) found this recently on the beach near Swords in Dublin. Anyone any ideas what it might be if anything?

slowburner

Is it stone or wood?