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The Bronze Age (WORK AND CRAFTS (The Smiths also made axe-heads, swords,…
The Bronze Age
WORK AND CRAFTS
The Smiths also made axe-heads, swords, arrowheads and spearheads out of stone and clay moulds.
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Irish farmers did a mixture of dairying and grain-growing. They tilled the land with wooden ploughs and spades with stone tips and they planted crops of wheat and barley.
Gold was mined and beaten into thin sheets to make lunalae (crescent shaped collars) and sun discs (used as ornamental brooches of ornamental buttons).
Later gold was twisted into making torcs (neckrings), necklaces and bracelets.
HOUSES
The farmers also had small building used for storage beside the house which was surrounded by a timber fence with a ditch or earthen bank.
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The families needed this protection from attacks by wild animals such as bears or from other families.
Their houses had a timber frame and was made from wattle and daub. The roof of the house was also thatched.
FOOD
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Meat was obtained from cattle, sheep and pigs and fish from the rivers or lakes. They also hunted for birds.
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Fulachta Fiadh: these were found in wet, low-lying places near rivers or streams. A rectangular hole was dug out from the ground and then lined with timber or stone slabs. Water seeped in through the holes and filled it while rocks heated on the fire until boiling hot. The meat was wrapped in straw and placed in the hole along with the boiling rocks.
BURIAL CUSTOMS
Cist Grave: These were single graved rectangular pits dug out from the ground and lined with stone slabs. The bodies were either cremated and were put in urns or the bodies were placed in a crouched position on their sides. Grave goods were placed beside the bodies and then a stone slab was placed over the grave.
Wedge Tombs: These were the most common of megalithic tombs. The tombs were built with large flat stones, some forming the sides of the walls and then a capstone on top. A mound of smaller stones covered the entrance and the ashes were put in vessels and placed inside.
Standing Stones: Burial places have also been found with stone circles, stone rows and standing stones.The entrance of the stone circle was usually on the north east side opposite to the smallest stone.These stone monuments may have also been used for religious ceremonies as well as for burials.