Hi Paul, hi all,

The Petrie crown is named after the antiquary George Petrie from whose
collection it comes. He didn't record the find context of the piece
which makes it difficult to date but the ornamentation on it is redolent
of later La Tene motifs - trumpet curves ending in birds heads - which
for Ireland would put at around the date you give.

Similar pieces share decorative motifs and the technique in which these
are applied plus method of construction and material, bronze perhaps
with leather attachments for wearing in ceremonial use.

Don't let the fact that the Petrie crown is made of bronze put you off
an Iron Age date...the decorative motifs are definitely La Tene inspired
and seem later La Tene which would put them at c100 BC at the earliest
in a European mainland context, later than this for Ireland.

Also, the introduction of iron did not replace bronze working...the
intricate work that goes into making these crowns for example, or
trumpets as another example, could not be achieved using iron as a
medium. Items such as horse bits though could be used in either
material. So, we can rightly speak about Iron Age bronzesmiths alongside
the iron working smiths of the day. Even today, bronze is a preferred
medium for sculptures because of its plasticity when working i.e. it's
good for decorations but at the same time a very tough and long lasting
material.

Hope this helps....

Mike

paulcarr@... wrote:
>
> Is it appropriate to label a bronze object like the Petrie Crown as being
> from "Bronze Age Ireland"? I believe it is dated to 100 A.D., and I
> believe that would fall in the Irish Iron Age.
>
> Could anyone comment on this?
>
> Paul Carr
> paulcarr@...
> Sacramento, California
>
> "Feicim, dúirt an fear dorcha" (mar a deir m'athair)
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