A ‘fairy dart’ from north Roscommon

by archaeologists Dr Eve Campbell, Archaeological Management Solutions, and Dr Conor Brady, Dundalk Institute of Technology

Occasionally an archaeological artefact can tell us about more than one period in the past. During excavations in advance of the construction of the N5 Ballaghaderreen to Scramoge Road Scheme in County Roscommon over 100 new sites were excavated. Here we discuss an artefact found at a 19th-century settlement on the scheme that provides a glimpse into life in the Late Mesolithic period, over 6,000 years ago.

The find, a broken butt-trimmed flint flake (artefact number E5169:12), was discovered in rubble from a partially robbed-out outbuilding in the pre-Famine village of Scramoge. The village is depicted on the first-edition Ordnance Survey (OS) six-inch map (1838) as extending along a road leading to the Strokestown demesne. In the aftermath of the Great Famine (1846–52), the village was among many on the estate that was cleared, its tenants evicted, and its houses demolished. The building (c. 7.4 m by c. 4 m ESE–WNW) was composed of limestone rubble bound with earth mortar and had traces of an internal floor made up of rough flags and cobbles. Its identification as animal housing is based on its size, layout, and its position within the broader settlement

Map extract showing the village of Scramoge as depicted on the first-edition OS six-inch map (published 1838).

The flake was manufactured between 6,000 and 7,000 years ago during the Late Mesolithic, when gathering wild foods and hunting game were the primary means of subsistence. It was made from good quality opaque white flint, free of impurities or inclusions. Given the large size of the piece (L: 53 mm, B: 36 mm, Th: 9 mm), it is possible that the flint (either the raw material or the artefact) was transported some distance and possibly from flint-bearing chalk cliffs on the north coast of Ireland.

The flake was large when it was originally struck and is unusual compared to the size of many other pieces recovered from sites in the region. We can tell that it was struck from its parent core using a hammerstone (the ‘hard hammer’ technique) because of the tell-tale bulb of percussion and the eraillure scar. The bulb of percussion is a small ripple or blub in the flint directly below where the hammerstone hit the parent core, and the eraillure scar shows where a tiny sliver of flint chipped off the flake owing to the force of the hammer blow during its manufacture. The platform (or striking surface) of the parent core was carefully prepared prior to the flake being struck. There is trimming along the base of each side.

The Scramoge flake (photo: John Channing; drawing: John Murphy).

The nature of the percussion, the preparation in advance of it being knapped, and the size of the flake itself (although incomplete) suggest that this is a Late Mesolithic butt-trimmed flake. A substantial piece is missing from one end. The edge of the break shows signs of the broken flake having been used as a scraping tool in an unmodified state. Thus, the break is likely to have occurred in antiquity. This is supported by the patination or discoloration on the surface of the break which, although not a reliable indicator of age, does suggest that the break took place some time ago.

The Scramoge flake represents one of only two Mesolithic artefacts recovered during works on the N5. A second butt-trimmed flake was found in fen peat at Gortnacrannagh, possibly associated with hunting or gathering along the rich wetland margin. The find context of the Scramoge flake is markedly different. It represents the sole lithic from the site’s assemblage, which was otherwise composed of largely post-medieval artefacts indicative of domestic life. The flake is significant on one level in that it signals the presence of people in the area during the Late Mesolithic, and the quality of the flint points to connections with long distance exchange networks extending as far as the Antrim coast. Its fresh condition provides a tantalising clue to its biography. Although the flake was found in topsoil, it does not seem to have been subjected to significant damage or abrasion from being exposed on a surface or as an element within an active plough soil layer. This suggests that the flake is an objet trouvé (a discarded object found by chance), unearthed from its original deposition spot during the 18th or 19th century and subsequently used as an apotropaic object or protective charm. Given the significance of waterways during the Mesolithic, a suggested find spot is the environs of the Scramoge River c. 200 m to the west of the site.

The remains of the outbuilding at Scramoge. The lithic was found in rubble overlying the site (photo: AMS).

The use of lithics in protective practices is known from medieval times but is best documented in a post-medieval context. Lithics are among a suite of objects and materials, including coins, animal body parts, plants, and religious medals, that were used in apotropaic or protective practices within the home. Often incorporated into the fabric of the house itself (walls, roof, or floor), lithics could also be deployed in folk medicine, especially for the cure of sick animals. This topic has been explored by archaeologist Marion Dowd, who has highlighted vernacular conceptions of found lithics as ‘fairy darts’ and their associated use as cures for afflicted animals. Sick animals understood to have been struck by ‘fairy darts’ were often given water into which lithics had been soaked, invoking the homeopathic logic of much Irish folk medicine, curing like with like. The location of the flake within the ruins of a vernacular outbuilding probably used to house cattle or other animals supports this notion. As Dowd has noted, lithics curated for their curative powers were often kept in outhouses close to where they would be used.

A book detailing all the finds from the N5 Ballaghaderreen to Scramoge Road Scheme is forthcoming, but readers can learn more from the StoryMap Through Bog & Meadow.

A ‘fairy dart’ from north Roscommon

by archaeologists Dr Eve Campbell, Archaeological Management Solutions, and Dr Conor Brady, Dundalk Institute of Technology

Further reading