2014: A Beaker period lithic assemblage from Rathdown, Co. Wicklow, Ireland

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A Beaker period lithic assemblage from Rathdown,

Co. Wicklow, Ireland

Torben Bjarke Ballin

LITHIC RESEARCH, Stirlingshire

Honorary Research Fellow, University of Bradford

The present report was commissioned by Archaeological Development Services Ltd. (ADS), a commercial archaeological

unit working out of Dublin, Kells and Belfast. Over a period of three years (2005-07) I produced a number of lithics re-

ports for ADS, including the present report on the lithic finds from Rathdown. In the wake of the ‘credit crunch’, ADS

was closed, and over the last few years I have attempted to ‘track down’ people from ADS, hoping to come to an agreement

regarding publication of these reports, or – if publication had been abandoned – upload to Academia of the original reports,

to avoid information getting lost. I have not been able to get in touch with any former ADS staff, with emails usually

‘bouncing’, and in several cases I found out that people I had worked with/who had excavated the sites had moved on and

left the archaeological profession. I therefore contacted a number of people within Irish archaeology, and it was suggested to

me that after five years – if no attempt had been made to begin moving a project towards publication – I could freely do

what I wanted to with the report. In the present case, 10 years have passed since the production of the report, and I subse-

quently decided to upload it, in the hope that my Irish colleagues may find it interesting/useful.

INTRODUCTION

In 1997 Archaeological Development Services Ltd. carried out excavations at Rathdown,

Rathdown Upper, County Wicklow, approximately 4km north of Greystokes and in view of the

Irish Sea. The site is situated c. 16-37m above O.D. The investigation was in response to the

planned development of 35 houses, as well as an access road (Sullivan 2004).

Archaeological finds, mainly flint and pottery, were recovered from topsoil (Contexts 001,

002, 003) as well as ditches, pits and old buried ground surfaces. The character of the features, in

conjunction with the composition of the flints and pottery, indicate that the Rathdown site is the

remains of a prehistoric settlement. The richest contexts were uncovered in the general area of

Houses 23 and 24, with Pits 343 (299 pieces) and 291 (45 pieces) yielding the largest concentra-

tions of lithic artefacts. Six Contexts (67, 124, 150, 293, 345, and 346) contained between ap-

proximately 15-20 pieces of worked flint, with the remaining contexts containing between one

and 10 pieces. Due to the recovery of Beaker pottery from many contexts (Brindley 2000), the

lithic assemblage is thought to date mainly to the Early Bronze Age, but the lithic finds suggest

that earlier periods may also be represented at Rathdown.

The purpose of the present report is to characterize the lithic assemblage, with special refer-

ence to raw-materials, typological composition and technology. From this characterization, an

attempt is made to date the flint assemblage and discuss its affiliation. The evaluation of the lithic

assemblage is based upon a detailed catalogue of all the lithic finds from Rathdown (an Access

database), and the artefacts in this report are referred to by their number (CAT no.) in the cata-

logue.

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THE ASSEMBLAGE

From the excavations at Rathdown, 937 lithic artefacts were recovered1. They are listed in Table

1.

Table 1. General artefact list.

Debitage

Chips 112

Flakes 458

Blades 41

Microblades 10

Indeterminate pieces 123

Total debitage 744

Cores

Single-platform cores 7

Irregular cores 4

Split/flaked pebbles 8

Bipolar cores 70

Core fragments 2

Total cores 91

Tools

Leaf-shaped arrowheads 2

Possible rough-outs for leaf-shaped arrowheads 1

Short end-scrapers 26

Double-scrapers 4

Side-scrapers 12

End-/side-scrapers 4

Concave scrapers 2

Other scrapers 4

Scraper-edge fragments 1

Piercers 6

Pieces with retouched notch(es) 4

Saw 1

Denticulated pieces 1

Combined tools 1

Pieces with edge-retouch 31

Hammerstones & anvils 2

Total tools 102

TOTAL 937

1 A total of 539 unworked pebbles are not included in the analysis. This sum includes two burnt and disintegrating

fragments of ‘pot-boilers’.

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The definitions of the main lithic categories are as follows:

Chips: All flakes and indeterminate pieces the greatest dimension (GD) of which is 10mm.

Flakes: All lithic artefacts with one identifiable ventral (positive or convex) surface, GD > 10mm and L <

2W (L = length; W = width).

Indeterminate pieces: Lithic artefacts which cannot be unequivocally identified as either flakes or cores. Gen-

erally the problem of identification is due to irregular breaks, frost-shattering or fire-crazing. Chunks

are larger indeterminate pieces, and in, for example, the case of quartz, the problem of identification

usually originates from a piece flaking along natural planes of weakness rather than flaking in the usu-

al conchoidal way.

Blades and microblades: Flakes where L 2W. In the case of blades W > 8mm, in the case of microblades W

8mm.

Cores: Artefacts with only dorsal (negative or concave) surfaces – if three or more flakes have been de-

tached, the piece is a core, if fewer than three flakes have been detached, the piece is a split or flaked

pebble.

Tools: Artefacts with secondary retouch (modification).

Raw materials

The lithic assemblage is predominantly in flint (99%), and the only non-flint artefacts are three

pieces of quartz, three pieces of quartzite, three pieces of chert, one piece of rock crystal, and

one artefact was made in an igneous raw material, possibly basalt. CAT 1569 (quartz) is a split

pebble, and CAT 1654 (rock crystal) and 1616 (chert) are retouched pieces, whereas CAT 1662

(igneous) and 1663 (quartzite) are hammerstones or anvils; the remainder of the non-flint objects

are debitage.

The flint is generally homogeneous and fine-grained, with few impurities, and the flaking

properties are good. All cortex is smooth and abraded, suggesting that procurement took place at

a pebble source. No cores have greatest dimensions larger than 60mm and, most likely, the col-

lected pebbles were in the order of 30-60mm. This impression is supported by the presence of

538 unworked pebbles, all within this size range. As a result of the small pebble sizes, c. 85% of

the worked flint is cortex-covered. This high ratio of cortex-cover corresponds to the ratios of,

for example, Laughanstown Site 78, Carrickmines Great Site 63m, and Coldwinters Site 5 (Ballin

2003b-d), where similarly sized pebbles were exploited.

It is unknown where the utilized flint pebbles were collected, but the adjacent coast is prob-

ably the most likely location. The glacial till may contain some flint, but the presence of clearly

rolled lithic artefacts (24 pieces, or 2.5%) suggests a coastal source. According to Hodgers (1973,

46) and Hartnett & Eogan (1964, 5), extensive quantities of pebble flint are found on the coasts

of Louth and Dublin, and the exploited beach walls may have included the abraded remains of

older, eroded coastal settlements. If the rolled artefacts of the assemblage are contemporary with

the present Rathdown settlement, this indicates post-depositional flooding of the area, which,

given the topographical location of the site, is unlikely. As many of the unworked pebbles are so

small that they seem implausible candidates for intentional reduction, it is most likely that local

prehistoric collection of beach flint was carried out in the form of ‘scooping-up’ pebbles rather

than as careful selection of suitable nodules. A metalled surface (below Context 148), also associ-

ated with Beaker pottery, indicates that pebbles may have been collected for a variety of usages.

In total, 131 flint artefacts are burnt, or 14% of the entire assemblage. Most likely, these

pieces are blanks, cores and tools which accidentally fell into the camp’s hearth(s) in connection

with the manufacture or use of these pieces. Although approximately 40% of the assemblage is

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from ploughsoil layers, only c. 20 % of the burnt flints are from these contexts, suggesting that

fire-crazed lithic material has a limited period of survival in the turbulent ploughed topsoil.

Slightly more than half (52%) of the burnt lithics are from various fills of charcoal-rich Pit 343

(Contexts 344, 345, 346), a few metres from the main Beaker period habitation area. This feature

may be a rubbish pit.

Most likely, the small number of non-flint artefacts are based on local, probably erratic,

pebbles and cobbles.

Debitage

The excavation yielded 744 pieces of debitage: 112 chips, 458 flakes, 41 blades, 10 microblades,

and 123 indeterminate pieces. No preparation flakes (crested pieces and core tablets) were recov-

ered. The chip ratio is low (15%), which may reflect the fact that consistent sieving was not un-

dertaken. As demonstrated in Ballin (1999b), the chip ratio of sieved assemblages produced by a

combined platform/bipolar approach usually varies between c. 30% and 55%.

Table 2. Applied percussion techniques: definable unmodified and modified flakes and blades.

Number Per cent

Soft percussion 2 0.5

Hard percussion 116 30.0

Indeterminate platform technique 9 2.3

Bipolar technique 260 67.2

TOTAL 387 100.0

The debitage is heavily dominated by flakes (62%), with approximately two-thirds being bipolar,

and one-third was manufactured by the application of hard percussion (Table 2). Of the 51

blades, approximately 90% are bipolar. Only one flake and one blade were positively identified as

soft-percussion blanks, and these pieces are probably residual (see dating section).

Fig. 1. The dimensions of flakes and blades from Rathdown (mm).

y = 0.6272x + 11.962

R² = 0.2156

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Len

gth

Width

BLADES

FLAKES

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As demonstrated by Fig. 1, blades and flakes form a continuum, and, at Rathdown, they are not

well-defined individual categories. The relatively high proportion of blades (c. 7% of the deb-

itage) indicates that an effort was made at producing elongated blanks. The average dimensions

of the intact blanks are: flakes 25 x 20 x 7mm and blades 32 x 12 x 7mm. Table 3 compares the

blanks from Wicklow with blanks from a number of sites in the vicinity (the Carrickmines sites

are approximately 10km to the NW; Ballin 2003a-b). The flake sizes vary within a 7mm band,

and the blades somewhat more, but as most of these assemblages are chronologically mixed to

varying degrees, these sizes mainly indicate a common raw material source. It was thought (Ballin

2003a-d) that the pebbles used on the Dublin sites were collected mainly from the glacial till,

whereas the Rathdown pebbles may mainly have been collected on the beach (see raw material

section). As in the case of the Dublin sites, most of the blanks are ‘orange-segment’ flakes or

blades with triangular cross-sections.

Table 3. Blank dimensions – comparison of blanks from Rathdown (Co. Wicklow) with blanks from a number of sites in

the vicinity (Co. Dublin).

Flake dimen-

sions, mm

Blade dimen-

sions, mm Estimated date

Rathdown 25 x 20 x 7 32 x 12 x 7 Beaker, w. EN component

Coldwinters 23 x 17 x 6 25 x 9 x 5 LN - EBA

Laughanstown 22 x 17 x 5 31 x 11 x 5 BA, w. EN component

Carrickmines Great 63m 18 x 13 x 5 23 x 9 x 5 EBA

Carrickmines Great 59-62 18 x 15 x 5 21 x 7 x 4 EN - BA

With a proportion of c. 17% of the debitage, indeterminate pieces are quite numerous. This cor-

responds well with the proportions of indeterminate pieces on the Dublin sites (12-18%), and it

probably reflects the dominance of bipolar technique (hammer-on-anvil technique), which is a

fairly robust approach to lithic reduction

Cores

A total of 91 cores were recovered at Rathdown: seven single-platform cores, four irregular

cores, eight split pebbles, 70 bipolar cores, and two core fragments. The percentage distribution

of platform cores : bipolar cores is 14:86 which corresponds well with the values of the Early

Bronze Age site Carrickmines Great 63m (10:90). The other Dublin sites have higher numbers of

platform cores (between 20% and 50%), which may indicate earlier dates or varying degrees of

chronological mixing.

The dimensions (L x W x T) of cores are measured in the following ways: in the case of

platform cores, the length is measured from platform to apex, the width is measured perpendicu-

lar to the length with the flaking-front oriented towards the analyst, and the thickness is meas-

ured from flaking-front to the often unworked/cortex-covered ‘back-side’ of the core. In the

case of bipolar cores, the length is measured from terminal to terminal, the width is measured

perpendicular to the length with one of the two flaking-fronts oriented towards the analyst, and

the thickness is measured from flaking-front to flaking-front.

It is possible to divide the seven single-platform cores into two sub-categories (Fig. 2), namely

1) elongated cores with the greatest dimension measured from platform to apex, and 2) broad

cores with the greatest dimension measured across the flaking-front. The former group includes

two pieces [CAT 1535, 1565], and the average dimensions of this group are 41 x 37 x 27mm.

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CAT 1535 is slightly rolled, and may represent intrusion of older material. The second group in-

cludes five pieces [CAT 1525, 1537, 1547, 1609, 1660], and the average dimensions of this group

are 26 x 39 x 28mm. None of the cores are trimmed, and the platforms vary between plain, fac-

eted and cortical. CAT 1525 is based on a large bipolar flake, the ventral face of which forms the

striking platform of the platform core. The cortical platform of CAT 1609 corresponds well with

the site’s many platform flakes with cortical platform remnants (see technology section). Both

categories of single-platform cores were reduced by the application of hard percussion, and they

were generally knapped along approximately half of the circumference.

Fig. 2. The dimensions of the single-platform cores (mm).

The four irregular cores form a heterogeneous group with little else in common than the category’s

defining attribute: they were all reduced from a minimum of three directions. CAT 1614, is as

long as it is wide (34 x 34 x 26mm) and may be a completely exhausted single-platform core of

Group 1. CAT 1523 has its greatest dimension across its main flaking front (29 x 42 x 23mm),

and in conjunction with its partially cortical main platform, this suggests that it may be a com-

pletely exhausted single-platform core of Group 2. CAT 1601 is of a similar size to CAT 1523

and 1614 (36 x 33 x 22mm) and its main apex is rounded and cortical; it tapers towards the op-

posing main platform end, and it is most probably a bipolar core, which was reduced to its pre-

sent state by the final application of unsystematic platform technique. CAT 1529 is the smallest

of the four irregular cores, and it has the dimensions 20 x 14 x 10mm.

Most of the cores from Rathdown were reduced by the application of bipolar technique.

This includes eight split pebbles and 70 bipolar cores. The split pebbles represent raw nodules

which were tested by the use of bipolar technique but discarded after the detachment of, at most,

two flakes. In principle, this group of artefacts may be perceived as early-stage bipolar cores.

Their average dimensions are 41 x 38 x 20mm, with the longest split pebble measuring 53mm

from terminal to terminal (Fig. 3).

y = -0.0855x + 33.691

R² = 0.0016

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

0 10 20 30 40 50

Len

gth

Width

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Fig. 3. The dimensions of the split pebbles (mm).

The 70 bipolar cores are relatively large (av. dim.: 35 x 29 x 16mm) and compare best with the bi-

polar cores from Coldwinter Site 5 (33 x 24 x 14mm). The bipolar cores from Laughanstown Site

78 and Carrickmines Great Sites 59-62 and 63m have greatest dimensions of between 24mm and

28mm and are somewhat smaller.

Fig. 4. The dimensions of the bipolar cores (mm).

The bipolar cores of Rathdown differ considerably from the bipolar cores of known Scottish

assemblages (Table 4). They are mainly unifacial, whereas bipolar cores in Scotland are mainly

bifacial: 68% of the bipolar cores from Rathdown are unifacial, but only 11% of the cores from

y = 0.0199x + 40.501

R² = 0.0006

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Len

gth

Width

y = 0.4946x + 21.339

R² = 0.2142

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Len

gth

Width

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Lussa River, Isle of Jura (Ballin 2002b), and 2% of the cores from Scord of Brouster, Shetland

(Ballin 2005), are unifacial. Approximately three-quarters of the bipolar cores from Laughans-

town Site 78 are unifacial.

This is most likely a result of the available flint pebbles in the Dublin/Wicklow area being

generally small, the pebbles from Lussa River being slightly larger, and at Scord of Brouster

quartz is available in fairly large blocks or plates from a number of veins. As stated in Ballin

(1999a, 21), an extensive bipolar reduction sequence will almost always result in the production

of a classic bifacial bipolar core, whereas a short bipolar reduction sequence may result in a bipo-

lar core with surviving attributes from the parent piece, be it a nodule, an exhausted platform

core or a thick flake. In this case, the used nodules were too small for the reduction sequence to

become extensive and, consequently, few bipolar cores acquired the classic bifacial shape.

Table 4. Morphological differences (unifacial:bifacial) between bipolar cores from various Irish and Scottish assemblages.

Rathdown Laughanstown Lussa River Scord of Brouster

(Pebble flint) (Mainly pebble flint)

(Pebble quartz and

pebble flint) (Vein quartz)

Unifacial : bifacial 68:32 % 72:28 % 11:89 % 2:98 %

Approximately four-fifth of the bipolar cores were reduced along one main flaking axis, and as a

result they have one set of terminals (one at either end). Roughly one-fifth of these cores were

reduced along two axes, resulting in the presence of two sets of terminals, one perpendicular to

the other. This feature demonstrates that re-orientation of the cores took place during produc-

tion.

Two core fragments [CAT 1592, 1630] are probably the remains of frost-shattered platform

cores. Their average dimensions are 39 x 28 x 21mm.

Fig. 5. Tool ratios of a number of sieved and unsieved assemblages from Norwegian Mesolithic and Neolithic settlement sites

(Ballin 1999b); Rathdown has been inserted for comparison.

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Tools

During the archaeological investigation of the Rathdown site, 102 tools were retrieved. With 53

pieces, scrapers dominate the assemblage (52%), supplemented by two leaf-shaped arrowheads,

one rough-out for a leaf-shaped point, six piercers, four notched pieces, one saw, one denticu-

late, one combined tool, 31 pieces with edge-retouch, and two hammerstones/anvils.

The 102 tools correspond to a tool ratio of 11%, which is somewhat higher than expected.

As illustrated in Fig. 5, the tool ratio of sieved assemblages rarely exceeds 4%, unless the site is a

specialized camp where little or no knapping took place. In the present case, the high tool ratio

may be explained by the lack of consistent sieving and the resulting lower number of chips.

Scrapers: The assemblage includes 53 scrapers, with short end-scrapers (26 pieces) and side-

scrapers (12 pieces) being the most common types2. The end-scrapers and side-scrapers are sup-

plemented by four double-scrapers, four end-/side-scrapers, two concave scrapers, four ‘other’

scrapers, and one scraper-edge fragment. The three groups short end-scrapers (av. dim.: 27 x 24

x 9mm), side-scrapers (av. dim.: 27x 22 x 9mm), and end-/side-scrapers (av. dim.: 24x 19 x

7mm) are of approximately same general size, and manufactured on the same type and quality of

blanks (mostly squat bipolar flakes, supplemented by a small number of hard-hammer flakes,

abandoned bipolar cores and indeterminate pieces). The number and position of scraper-edges is

likely to have been defined by the size and shape of the individual blanks, more than a determi-

nation by the flint-knappers to produce scrapers of a set type. The scraper-edges are mostly

slightly convex to convex, and steep, with a small number of end- or side-scrapers having acute

[eg, CAT 1552, 1678] or uneven / denticulated [eg, CAT 1658, 1671] working-edges. Several

pieces have supplementary blunting of the lateral edges.

The double-scrapers (av. dim.: 38 x 29 x 15mm) and concave scrapers (av. dim.: 36 x 39 x

11mm) are somewhat larger and may have been produced for more specialised purposes. In the

present report it has been chosen to distinguish between hollow scrapers (eg, Eogan 1963;

Flanagan 1966) and concave scrapers as more and less diagnostic variants of the same tool type.

Hollow scrapers, which are strictly from the later part of the Early Neolithic and from the Late

Neolithic, are based on specialised flakes (discussed in Woodman et al. 1992; also see cache of

blanks for hollow scrapers from Knowth, Eogan 1984, 24), whereas concave scrapers, which are

mainly from the later part of the Early Neolithic and from the Late Neolithic, but occur in other

chronological contexts also, are based on ordinary flakes.

Other scrapers are a heterogeneous group of implements which do not fit into any of the

more standardised scraper categories. The four other scrapers are based on two flakes (one bipo-

lar and one indeterminate flake), one indeterminate piece and the fragment of a bipolar core.

Three of these tools have an expedient working-edge on a suitable corner [CAT 1527, 1531,

1545] – for example the corner of a break – whereas CAT 1530 is an idiosyncratic piece. The

latter is based on the medial fragment of a flake, and it has a tang at one end and a splayed, con-

vex scraper-edge at the other. One broken-off scraper-edge fragment (9 x 14 x 5mm) is acute

and convex and cannot be defined in more detail.

Leaf-shaped arrowheads: The basal parts of two leaf-shaped pieces were recovered [CAT 1627,

1653]. CAT 1627 is fairly large (30 x 41 x 9mm), and in terms of shape it corresponds best to

2 An end-scraper is defined by having a working-edge approximately perpendicular to the longest of the two dimen-

sions L and W (L being the dimension proximal end to distal end), whereas a side-scraper has its edge on the longest

of the two dimensions. If L > W (elongated blank) the working-edge of the end-scraper will be distal (sometimes

proximal) and the edge of the side-scraper will be lateral. If W > L (broad blank) the working-edge of the end-

scraper will be lateral and the edge of the side-scraper will be either proximal or distal (Ballin 1996).

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Green’s (1980) Type 1Bg, whereas in terms of size it corresponds better to his Type 1Bh. It has a

rounded base, and convex lateral sides. CAT 1653 is much smaller (16 x 17 x 4mm) and burnt,

and it corresponds to Green’s Type 2C, or possibly 3C. It has a pointed base and convex lateral

sides. Both pieces have been thinned bifacially by invasive retouch. According to Green (1980,

Table IV.1), large leaf-shaped points (his size category 1) are particularly common in Ireland,

whereas medium-sized and small pieces (his size categories 3 and 4) dominate English and Scot-

tish assemblages. The bimodal size distribution of Irish leaf-shaped points, with few pieces be-

longing to Green’s size category 2, may indicate that these points were produced for different

functions, such as, deposition as burial goods and general everyday use.

CAT 1595 is probably an abandoned rough-out for a medium-sized leaf-shaped point (41 x

27 x 11mm). It is based on a teardrop-shaped bipolar primary flake. The two lateral sides have

been shaped dorsally by sporadic flat retouch, whereas the proximal end (probably intended to

become the tip) has been tapered slightly by invasive retouch of the ventral face.

Piercers: The six piercers are probably the most varied tool group of the assemblage – not

two pieces are alike. Generally, they are based on whatever blank was at hand, with a piercer-tip

formed on the most suitable part of the blank. CAT 1672 is based on a long slender bipolar

blade (56 x 15 x 11mm), and a broad blunt tip was formed at the distal end by flat ventral re-

touch of the two lateral sides. CAT 1682 is also based on a bipolar blade (36 x 17 x 8mm), but in

this case the distal tip was made by merging two edge-retouched lateral sides.

CAT 1623 was made on a bipolar flake or blade (only the distal end survives) (20 x 16 x

5mm), and the acutely pointed distal tip was created by the application of fine invasive retouch;

the right side of the tip has bifacial invasive retouch, whereas the left lateral side only has inva-

sive retouch of the ventral face. CAT 1647 is based on a bipolar flake (21 x 19 x 7mm), and in

this case the piercer-tip is at the proximal end; it was shaped by merging two concave lateral re-

touches. The remaining two pieces are on an indeterminate flake [CAT 1505] (29 x 23 x 8mm)

and a bipolar core [CAT 1549] (30 x 33 x 15mm); in both cases the piercer-tip takes the shape of

a small spur defined by a pair of notches (cf. Smith 1965, 105). CAT 1505 is heavily rolled.

Pieces with retouched notch(es): The four notched pieces are all on small bipolar [CAT 1540,

1562] or hard-hammer flakes [CAT 1508, 1579] (av. dim.: 25 x 22 x 8mm). CAT 1579 has two

notches, one at either end, with the chords measuring 7 an 9mm. The remaining pieces only have

one notch each, with the notches measuring between 6mm and 10mm.

Saw: Only one saw3 [CAT 1649] was recovered from the site. It is a bipolar flake with a se-

ries of relatively crude notches in its left lateral side (c. 3 teeth per cm; in comparison, serrated

pieces occasionally have up to 20 fine teeth per cm – see for example CAT 630 from Stoneyhill

in Aberdeenshire, Suddaby & Ballin 2012). CAT 1649 is heavily rolled.

Denticulated pieces: CAT 1538 is a hard-hammer flake (40 x 30 x 13mm) with denticulation

along the right lateral side. This modification is probably an uneven scraper-edge. Sporadic steep

retouch at the distal end may represent a second scraper-edge. The piece is somewhat plough-

battered, with rust traces along most edges and arrisses, but the modification does not appear to

have been formed recently.

3 A number of tool types are defined by one or more series of teeth, namely denticulated pieces, saws and serrated

pieces. Denticulates are defined as pieces with coarse denticulation formed by the working of either contiguous notch-

es or by the detachment of small flakes; saws are intermediately serrated pieces, the teeth of which are formed by two

or more small removals on either side of each tooth; and serrated pieces are defined as mostly straight-sided blanks

with one, or occasionally both, lateral edges finely serrated by the removal of a single chip on either side of each

tooth (Healy 1996, 76).

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Combined tools: A small (24 x 16 x 5mm) bipolar flake [CAT 502] has an acute, slightly con-

vex scraper-edge along the left lateral side, and an almost right-angled piercer tip at the distal

end. The piercer tip was formed by merging two straight to slightly convex lateral retouches.

Pieces with edge-retouch: This tool group comprises 31 pieces, 29 of which are in flint; one piece

is in homogeneous rock crystal, and one is in chert. They differ considerably in size (GD of in-

tact pieces 15-42mm; av. dim.: 25 x 21 x 7mm) and shape, with three pieces being on hard-

hammer or indeterminate blades, two on indeterminate pieces, one on a bipolar core, and 25 on

equal numbers of bipolar and hard-hammer flakes. This tool group probably includes artefacts

and fragments of artefacts with different functions.

Hammerstones and anvils: This category includes two objects, namely one fragment of a

quartzite hammerstone [CAT 1663], and one hammer/anvil in an igneous material [CAT 1662].

CAT 1663 (79 x 50 x 26mm) curves along its long axis, defining this piece as the distal section of

a large flake. It has distinctive crush-marks on its dorsal face, and it is possible that this flake de-

tached from its parent hammerstone when the latter was used to reduce flint pebbles or, possi-

bly, to roughen-up quernstones, the surfaces of which had become too smooth (Bloch Jørgensen

1991, 100). CAT 1662 (135 x 93 x 38mm) is a flat oval cobble, which mainly functioned as an

anvil. It has two pitted areas in either face, distributed towards the two ends. The central parts of

both lateral edges are marked by sporadic crush-marks, showing that the implement was occa-

sionally used for hammering. However, the two slightly pointed ends were not used. Anvils,

such as CAT 1662, are generally associated with bipolar reduction.

TECHNOLOGY

The assemblage appears homogeneous, with approximately two-thirds of all flakes and blades

being bipolar, whereas one-third was detached by the application of hard percussion. Only two

blanks were produced by soft percussion. The Rathdown assemblage definitely represents a flake

industry, and the blades of the collection are mainly bipolar elongated flakes (c. 90%) – as shown

in Fig. 1, the flakes and blades of this assemblage form a continuum. A small number of regular,

parallel-sided platform blades, such as microblade CAT 481, may be residual Mesolithic or Early

Neolithic pieces.

The following presentation of the mainly Beaker period industry of Rathdown and its oper-

ational schema (‘chaîne opératoire’; Leroi-Gourhan 1965; Lemonnier 1976) is founded partly on

assumptions made in other sections of this paper. The discussion of the operational schema fol-

lows the approach outlined in the presentation and discussion of the Later Bronze Age assem-

blage from the Bayanne site on Yell, Shetland (Ballin 2008).

Procurement of raw material: The industry is mainly flint-based (c. 99%), with negligible use of

chert, quartz, rock crystal, and quartzite. Most likely, flint pebbles were collected on the nearby

shores of the Irish Sea, although the glacial till probably contains some flint. The many rolled

artefacts suggest the exploitation of a beach source, where flint pebbles may have been procured

from beach walls containing the rolled remains of older eroded coastal settlements. If the rolled

artefacts had been abraded on-site this would have required repeated flooding of the settlement

area, which is not likely at the relatively high topographical level of Rathdown. The presence of

many very small, from a knapper’s perspective useless, pebbles indicate that the raw material may

have been procured by scooping up nodules on the beach, rather than in the form of careful se-

lection of knappable pieces of flint. This form of procurement may have had the dual function

of supplying pebbles for knapping as well as for metalled surfaces.

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Core preparation and rejuvenation: As described below, two main reduction techniques were fol-

lowed at the site, bipolar technique and plain hard percussion, and it is likely that the two ap-

proaches form parts of one coherent reduction system. Bipolar technique does not require any

preparation (decortication, cresting, trimming) of the nodules before commencement of actual

blank production, and no form of rejuvenation takes place during the reduction of the cores,

apart from re-orientation.

Usually, hard-hammer reduction includes some degree of preparation, but in the present

case none was applied. Although, at Rathdown, many flakes display pronounced bulbs-of-

percussion, most platform flakes have cortical platform remnants, demonstrating that no decor-

tication took place. No crested flakes were recovered, and as no platform cores have surviving

crests along their their flaking-fronts, it is most likely that cresting did not took place either. All

surviving platform cores lack trimming of the platform edges.

Blank (primary) production: Although the presence of typical bipolar flakes, and flakes with

pronounced bulbs-of-percussion, indicates the application of two separate reduction techniques,

bipolar technique and hard percussion, this may be an overly simplified picture. Most probably,

at Rathdown, those two approaches were different versions of the same general approach – the

reduction of small unprepared pebbles on anvils (Fig. 6). In most instances, a pebble was held on

an anvil and struck at the spot right above the pebble-anvil contact point (Fig. 6.3), resulting in

the production of typical bipolar blanks. These would frequently be in the form of orange-

segment flakes with crushed linear terminals. In other instances, a pebble was held on an anvil,

and flakes were struck off along the edges of the (in this case, cortical) platform (fig. 6.2), result-

ing in the creation of bulbar flakes with cortical platform remnants. As noted by Callahan (1987,

60), the use of anvils allows for considerable multiplication of force to be applied – if free-hand

percussion was applied, the small pebbles or cores would simply be pushed away from the ham-

merstone on impact (Finlayson 2000). In general, free-hand percussion requires access to peb-

bles or cobbles of larger sizes than the pieces available at Rathdown.

Fig. 6. Illustration of the differences between free-hand percussion, platform-on-anvil technique and bipolar technique (after

Callahan 1987, Fig. 97).

The surviving cores suggest that, when applying bipolar technique, the pebble was mostly orien-

tated in a way that allowed the force to be directed along its longest axis, whereas, when applying

anvil hard-hammer technique, the pebble was held in a way that directed the force along one of

the shorter axes. In the latter case, the result was the production of single-platform cores of Type

2 with broad flaking-fronts and broad, approximately straight platform edges (for definition, see

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above). The assemblage includes one typical anvil [CAT 1662] with pecked or pitted areas from

repeated use.

If the pebbles were large, allowing more extended reduction sequences, traditional cubic

multi-platform cores were produced. Most likely, single-platform cores of Type 1 (elongated

cores with the greatest dimension measured from platform to apex) represent intrusion of older,

possibly Neolithic material.

Tool (secondary) production: At Rathdown, most tools were shaped by the application of edge-

retouch, but invasive retouch and pressure-flaking of edges were also used. Full invasive retouch

is only present in connection with the two leaf-shaped pieces [CAT 1627, 1653], and partial inva-

sive retouch occur on CAT 1595, a possible rough-out for a leaf-shaped point. Those artefacts

are thought to be residual Early Neolithic pieces (see dating section). Several of the working-

edges of the small end-scrapers and side-scrapers were produced by the application of pressure-

flaking. This approach was commonly used in connection with the production of Beaker period

scrapers, and particularly thumbnail-scrapers with acute edge-angles were produced in this man-

ner [eg, CAT 1552, 1673-4, 1677-9]. Semi-invasive retouch was also used to shape the tip of

piercer CAT 1623.

DATING

Only three elements date the assemblage, namely 1) diagnostic types, 2) technological attributes,

and 3) association with diagnostic pottery.

Fig. 7. Examples of foliate knives from the British Early Bronze Age.

Diagnostic types: In general, the assemblage includes few chronologically significant core or tool

types. The most diagnostic pieces are the two leaf-shaped arrowheads [CAT 1627, 1653] and the

rough-out for a leaf-shaped point [CAT 1595]. Leaf-shaped forms occur in two chronological

contexts, namely the Early Neolithic period (leaf-shaped arrowheads) and the later part of the

Early Bronze Age (foliate knives; cf. Ballin 2012). Due to the recovery of Beaker pottery, and the

complete absence of Neolithic pottery, it was first considered whether the larger piece [CAT

1627] could be an Early Bronze Age foliate knife, but these tools are mostly double-pointed (Fig.

7), whereas CAT 1627 has a convex base. Most likely, this piece is a large leaf-shaped arrowhead,

dating to the Early Neolithic period. The smaller leaf-shaped implement [CAT 1653] has a clearly

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pointed base, and there is no doubt that this piece is of an Early Neolithic date. The rough-out

for a leaf-shaped point must be of a similar date.

Finely serrated pieces and saws occur sporadically throughout the Neolithic -Bronze

Age period, but they are most common in Early Neolithic contexts where they are regularly

found in connection with causewayed enclosures (Saville 2002). They are also frequently

recovered from Late Neolithic contexts in association with so-called tortoise or Levallois-

like cores (Manby 1974; Suddaby & Ballin 2011). Saw CAT 1649 is most probably Neolith-

ic, and the rolled condition of this implement supports its probable residual status.

In a region characterised by the general exploitation of pebble flint sources, the dimin-

utive size of thumbnail-scrapers cannot be a diagnostic feature per se. In the Dub-

lin/Wicklow area, small scrapers are common in most periods (Ballin 2003a-d), and only

thumbnail-scrapers with clearly pressure-flaked, mostly acute scraper-edges are diagnostic.

These latter pieces are found in Early Bronze Age contexts. At Rathdown, this includes six

end-, side- and double-scrapers [CAT 1552, 1673-4, 1677-9]. Five of these [CAT 1673-4,

1677-9] are from Context 344, the fill of Pit 343, where they were associated with Beaker

pottery.

The use of invasive retouch to shape piercer CAT 1623 only dates this piece to the

general post-Mesolithic period.

Technological attributes: The major part of the assemblage is characterized by plain bi-

polar technology, supplemented by knapping from unprepared platform cores. The prod-

ucts of the latter are small hard-hammer flakes, mostly with cortical platform remnants.

According to Woodman (1987, 145), simple flake industries dominated by bipolar tech-

nique typify the later Bronze Age in Ireland. However, in areas characterised by the reduc-

tion of small flint pebbles, flake industries with a substantial bipolar component probabl y

characterise the entire Bronze Age period.

Further to the north, at Knowth on the River Boyne, the various Beaker assemblages

appear to include more substantial proportions of platform flakes (Eogan & Roche 1997,

223; Eogan 1984, 245). This may partly be due to a larger influx of chalk flint from the

north-east (ie, larger nodules), but it is also possible that several of the Beaker concentra-

tions on this very ‘busy’ settlement-cum-ritual site are mixed to a larger extent than the

Rathdown site and the bipolar-dominated sites in the Dublin area (Ballin 2003a-d). Of the

four main Beaker concentrations at Knowth, Concentration B (Eogan 1984, 262) includes a

much larger proportion of true blades than one would expect from an Irish Beaker site;

Concentration C combines Neolithic leaf-shaped and Bronze Age barbed-and-tanged

points (ibid., 273); and Concentration D includes fragments of true hollow scrapers (ibid.,

291), which are usually dated to the later Neolithic period (cf., Eogan 1963; Flanagan 1966;

Woodman et al. 1992).

The cortical platform remnants of the Rathdown platform flakes are consistent with a

Bronze Age date (Ballin 2002a).

Association with diagnostic pottery: Fragments of Beaker pottery were found throughout

the fills (Sullivan 2004), supplemented by a small number of sherds from Vase pottery

(Brindley 2000). No other diagnostic sherds were identified. This suggests a date for the

associated lithic sub-assemblages of the earlier part of the Early Bronze Age (Fig. 8).

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Fig. 8. The chronological framework of the major EBA pottery traditions in Ireland (after Brindley 2003)

General comments: The homogeneous appearance of the flint assemblage suggests that it may gen-

erally have been deposited over a relatively short span of time. The association of most of the

flints with Beaker sherds suggests an Early Bronze Age date for the majority of these pieces. A

small number of implements, such as the leaf-shaped points, are datable to the Early Neolithic

period, one of which was recovered from topsoil (Context 2) and one from a ‘dubious’ stakehole

with possible medieval pottery (Context 205). A number of rolled artefacts may have been

scooped up from the local beach in connection with the procurement of pebbles for the site’s

primary production and metalled surfaces.

The flints from Pit 343 form a relatively large (c. 300 pieces), chronologically unmixed sub-

assemblage, most probably deposited at one time (Sullivan 2004), and it included typical pres-

sure-flaked thumbnail-scrapers and Beaker pottery.

SUMMARY

From Rathdown, a total of 937 lithic artefacts were recovered. Almost all finds are in flint (99%),

with a small supplement being in quartz, quartzite, chert, rock crystal and basalt. Although flint is

available in the local till, most of the flint is thought to have been collected on the nearby beach-

es in the form of pebbles no larger than 60mm. A number of rolled artefacts probably entered

the collection when pebbles were scooped up from beach walls containing the eroded remains of

older coastal settlements.

The three main artefact categories – debitage, cores and tools – make up approximately

79%, 10%, and 11%, respectively. The relatively high tool ratio may be explained by the lack of

consistent sieving and a subsequently lower number of chips. In total, 744 pieces of debitage

were retrieved, with chips amounting to 15%, flakes 61%, blades 7%, and indeterminate pieces

17%. The blanks were mainly detached by the application of bipolar technique (67%), supple-

mented by some use of hard percussion (30%). Almost all blades were produced in bipolar tech-

nique. Two pieces manufactured in soft percussion may indicate intrusion of older material. In

terms of size, the flakes correspond well with the sizes of flakes from contemporary sites in the

Dublin area (av. dim.: 25 x 20 x 7mm). The relatively large proportion of indeterminate pieces

may reflect the widespread use of the violent bipolar technique.

The 91 cores from Rathdown are heavily dominated by bipolar specimens, but also embrace

single-platform cores, irregular cores, split pebbles and core fragments. Including split pebbles,

cores reduced in bipolar technique amount to 86% of all cores. The seven single-platform cores

were sub-divided into long and broad specimens, with the longer cores believed to be residual

Neolithic pieces whereas the broader pieces probably date to the Beaker period. Due to the small

sizes of the available pebbles, most bipolar cores are unifacial, with one flaking-front and a corti-

cal ‘back-side’.

Beaker

Vase

Cordoned Urn

2400 BC 2200 BC 2000 BC 1800 BC 1600 BC

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The tool category comprises 102 pieces, most of which are small scrapers (52%). Other tool

types include piercers, notches, one saw, one denticulated piece, one scraper-piercer and two

hammerstones/anvils. Thirty-one pieces with indeterminate edge-retouch were recovered. The

most common scraper-categories are short end-scrapers and side-scrapers and, in conjunction

with end-/side-scrapers, these implements form a continuum of small round or oval scrapers.

Most scrapers have steep convex working-edges, but a small number of end-scrapers and side-

scrapers have acute convex working-edges, clearly manufactured in pressure technique. The

scrapers seem to be relatively standardized implements, whereas most other tool categories have

an ad hoc appearance. The main exceptions to this rule are the fragments of two leaf-shaped ar-

rowheads and a rough-out for a leaf-shaped point. They are probably residual Early Neolithic

pieces.

With the exception of a small number of finds, such as two soft percussion blanks, three

leaf-shaped pieces and a saw (and probably all rolled pieces), the assemblage appears homogene-

ous, and it may mainly be the product of a single flake industry. This industry is based on the

combined application of bipolar technique and hard percussion. Bipolar technique clearly domi-

nated the site’s primary production, but a substantial number of flakes were produced from small

unprepared platform cores. Although definitely a flake industry, quite a few bipolar blades were

produced. Invasive retouch was used sparingly, and the best bifacial tools (leaf-shaped arrow-

heads CAT 1627 and 1653) are probably residual Neolithic artefacts.

Apart from a small number of residual pieces, the bulk of this homogeneous assemblage

constitutes a chronological unit deposited over a relatively short span of time. Approximately

one-third of the assemblage was recovered from Rubbish Pit 343 and may have been deposited

as one event (‘site maintenance’; Binford 1983, 189). The main bulk of the assemblage is dated to

the Beaker period by its small pressure-flaked thumbnail-scrapers, in conjunction with flake

dominance, preference for bipolar technique, cortical platform remnants, and association with

Beaker pottery. More advanced platform technique, as well as leaf-shaped and serrated pieces,

most probably date to the Early Neolithic period.

In the larger picture, the lithic finds from Rathdown – supported by finds from contempo-

rary sites in the Dublin area – present an opportunity to increase our understanding of Ireland’s

later prehistoric lithic industries, the period during which lithic technology was replaced by that

of metal.

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