Antrim; Tullyweggin, Cookstown, County
Tyrone; Closkett, Drumgooland, and Glanville, Newry, County Down.

Very small vessels, of usually about 2 to 2-1/2 inches in height, are
often found in interments associated with the large cinerary urns, and
occasionally, when the latter are inverted, are found inside them. The
exact use of these small vessels, which are called "incense-cups" or
"pygmy-cups," is a matter of speculation; several theories have been
advanced to explain the purpose of placing them in graves, but none of
them are altogether satisfactory.[52]

[52] See Abercromby, _op. cit._, vol. ii, p. 24, who discusses these
small vessels at length.

Like the other vessels, they can be divided into different types, of
which some are peculiar to England, and even there confined to
certain counties. In Ireland several of these small cups have
perforated walls, while some have handles. One remarkable specimen
found at Knocknacoura, Co. Carlow, is covered all over with ornament.

In the fine cist discovered at Greenhills, County Dublin, and now set
up in the National Museum, a very remarkable little cup was found
inside the large inverted cinerary urn (fig. 84). The form of this
small cup appears to be originally derived from a metal prototype, and
exactly resembles pottery-vessels of Iron-Age date found in the
cemetery at Marne.

CHAPTER XII

BRONZE-AGE ORNAMENTATION IN IRELAND

The ornament of the Bronze Age in Ireland consists of chevrons, hatched
triangles, lozenges, etc., combined with some wavy patterns, and later
in some instances with the spirals introduced from Scandinavia,[53]
where this motive had penetrated early from the AEgean along the amber
route. This early type of ornament can be seen on some of the bronze
celts, and also on the pottery, notably the food-vessels, which are
often most tastefully decorated. The ornamentation, however, can be
most fully studied on the inscribed stones in the great monuments of
the New Grange group. These monuments, perhaps the most remarkable in
Western Europe, have justly aroused the interest of generations of
archaeologists, and many interpretations have been placed upon their
decoration. Having dealt so fully with this subject in a recent book,
"New Grange and other Incised Tumuli in Ireland," 1912, it is not
proposed to go into the question again, but there are one or two points
that may be noticed.

[53] See Hoernes, "Jahrbuch fuer Altertnmsku