The Brockagh Axe
Ancient treasures and wonders of Ireland, mysterious gems and gold, lost creatures and Irish wonders
A treasured tool from times long past
The extraordinary bronze age Irish axehead is remarkable not only for the decorations adorning the axe itself, but also for the carry-pouch or sheath discovered along with it when it was found four meters deep in a peat bog in Brockagh, County Kildare. It is very unusual for any organic material to have survived thousands of years, but the unique conditions to be found in Irish bogs protected these treasures for us to marvel at today.
They were originally made between 1900 and 1700 BC, and the axe's shape is typical of the tools and weapons of the time, cast from golden bronze and heavily decorated on both sides in vertical herringbone lines, scored into the top and bottom. The sides have been shaped by hammering into raised ridges, perhaps to give better grip on the wood it was set into, with a wide cutting edge, and there is more decoration on the sides in the form of hammered grooves.
The sheath is made from a single piece of rawhide with the hair inside, cut to match the shape of the axe, and made some time after the axe itself was cast. It is stitched up with a narrow cow leather thong.
The most intriguing part about this artifact is the sheath itself- was it used to transport the axehead safely, was it a grip meant to allow the tool to be used without a wooden haft, or was it ceremonial in nature, as the decorations on the axehead may hint?
Many of these ancient treasures are found in bogs across Ireland, which would have been lakes and rivers when the items were deposited, and there is much speculation as to why, with religious or ritual sacrifice being the usual suggestion. However it is also possible that bronze and iron age Irish people made extensive use of inland waterways and some may have suffered mischance or fallen in battle, and left their belongings behind, settling to the bottom for millennia to come.
Brockagh bog is marked on the map below!
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