Supported by the National Science Foundation, James Boyle will undertake the examination of bone and antler artifact production from early medieval Ireland, c. AD 400 - 800. Irish society, while adopting some aspects of Roman culture, most notably Christianity, did not receive an impetus from this contact to develop into a unified state. Instead the island remained a decentralized, non-urban and mainly pastoral society dominated by numerous competing kingdoms. Because of this, Ireland has traditionally been ignored in discussions of social complexity and the emergence of urban states after the European "Dark Ages." Recent research however suggests that political power was increasingly being focused in the hands of secular elites towards the end of this period and that Ireland may have been a significantly complex society, yet one that differed from its European neighbors. One of the hallmarks of this increasing level of social complexity is the diversity and decoration of dress fasteners. Irish bronze brooches and pins are recognized as some of the most important pieces of Celtic artwork, and during the medieval period these objects would have represented the wealth and social standing of the individual wearer. The focus of this research will be on bone and antler pins, a largely overlooked category of dress fastener. Often considered to be inferior copies of metal pins, these personal items have been described as status objects marking the lower classes in Irish society. One of the ways early medieval elites solidified their power was through the control of the production of status objects such as brooches. This project will examine whether the production of bone pins was likewise controlled by the upper classes of Irish society.
This project will entail the examination of all excavated early medieval bone pins and bone working debris from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, UK. Although bone pins have been recognized as unique artifacts of the early medieval period since the 1930s, few researchers have ever examined the collection of pins held in the museums of Ireland. The data collected in this research will be used to construct the first ever typology of Irish medieval bone pins. Mr. Boyle will combine the distribution and chronological development of these pins with complementary data from other studies of bronze brooches and pins to create a comprehensive computerized database of dress fasteners in the early medieval period. This project will also determine if the production of bone pins is limited to high status sites or whether bone pins were the handiwork of the majority of the medieval population. This research will be the first examination of the production and distribution of any class of bone artifact from the early medieval period and one of the first studies in Ireland to incorporate craft production as an element in social development. This project will not only inform the debate over the growth of elite power in early medieval Ireland, but also demonstrate how overlooked aspects of the archaeological record can be utilized in theoretically important ways.
