Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 11.djvu/332

 284 PROCEEDINGS AT MEETINGS OF {curaforis missi ?) Also a large object of tliin silver plate, ornamentcJ with punched work, and supposed to have been a cup. The weight of the ingots and fragments amounted to more than 200 oz, of silver, and no object of any other metal was found. The coins and bullion lay close packed at some depth ; no trace was seen of any urn or box in which they might have been deposited. The inscribed ingots appear to have been similar in form and size to one found in 1777, in the Tower of London, Avith coins of Ilonorius and Arcadius, and bearing the impress — ex offic iiosouii. A representation of it is given in the Archaiologia, vol. v. pi. 2~), p. 292. A full account of the discovery near Colcraine has subse- quently been communicated to the " Ulster Journal of Archeology," vol. ii. p. 182, by Mr. J. Scott Porter, with representations of the orna- mented reliques of silver, and a detailed catalogue of the coins with their reverses, by Mr. Carrctiiers of Belfast.' This discovery is remarkable on account of the very rare occurrence of any vestiges of the Romans in Ireland. In 1827, a hoard of 300 silver coins of the Higher Empire was found at Bushmills, co. Antrim ; in 1830, 500 silver coins were dis- covered about a mile from the Giant's Causeway, and two large hoards were subsequently found in the same neighbourhood. The whole have been dispersed, having been sold to strangers visiting the Causeway. With the exception of these discoveries, all of which have occurred within a limited district of the co. Antrim, scarcely any authentic instance of Roman vestiges in Ireland appears to have been recorded. The Roman oculist's stamp found in the co. Tipperary, and described in this Journal by Mr. Way (vol. vii. p. 354), may be mentioned as the only reliquc which has fallen under our observation. By Mr. W. J. Berniiard Smith. — Three iron weapons, supposed to be of the Saxon period ; the precise locality where they were found is not known, but it was probably in London. They consist of a small axe-head, and two spears. One of these has the socket open nearly as far as the commencement of the blade, a mode of construction frequently seen in the spears of the Saxon period, and found possibly more convenient for the smaller weapons of this class, which may have been used as missiles, since if the light shaft were broken, as must have constantly occurred, it would be much easier to detach the head and adjust it to a fresh shaft, than if it had been riveted to the wood.-' It may be also supposed that inconvenience arose from the shaft being liable to break where the rivet passed through it. The second spear-head has the socket pierced at the sides for a rivet, and it is remarkable as having lateral projections about 2 inches below the blade, forming a cross-guard like the juora of the Roman voiahuhtm. The cross-bar in this example closely resembles that of an iron spcar-hcad of much larger proportions found at Nottingham, and figured in this Journal.' Spear-heads of the Anglo-Saxon period, with such cross-guards, ' 'J'li«-Hf coiim with the mlvcr ornii- jip. '.>(], Ul.'i, &c. in this vohmio ; Mr. in<TitH rt'inain in Uio poKMCHHioii of Mr. Wylic's Fiiirfonl (inivt-H, pi. xi. ; iind llic .JiunirH (iilmour, wiilclnniiker, ofCoicruinc, cMiiniplrH louml lit llinnliiini liy Mr. and it inny Iju IiojxmI tlmt tlic Iiitlrr ut Akiiiiinn, Ar(liulii;,'i(i, vol. xxxv. pi. i. Iia«l will l)(Hfciin.il for the MuHciini of Oci-iiBioii.illy llif opin mu-kct dccurs willi tin; Koyul Irihli Ai-Hili^niy. tli<' hhv of llif riv<-t, ii.s iit Linton Uoiitli, • (Junip.irc till- Hpi-.-irn diHcovcrcil Ity j;nivi' .No. Ill,|i. llll, bM!<|uivH, pi. ;i.'i, .'{(i ; at Linton lliulli, TImm Kind of hpcur willi cro«s-gu;ird,s