5th Yr notes - Bronze age

Contined from SUN DISC............These discs from Tedavent show some of the earliest examples of the repousse technique work.  To apply a repousse design, gold sheet would have been laid face down on a firm surface – in more recent times, a leather sandbag or a bowl of mastic would have been used by goldsmiths.  A pattern could then be created on the surface using tracers (chisel like tools with a variety of shapes cut into the tip which were pressed or hammered into the surface) to produce a design.  With the work completed, the sheet of gold was turned face up to reveal the design projecting from the surface.  The work required careful craftsmanship, as a careless stroke could tear the thin gold sheet and the work would have to be started all over again.







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The lunula is the most commonly found gold artifact from the early bronze age, and are dated back to after 1800BC.  A lunula was a neck collar probably worn as a status or magical item.  It was made of gold hammered into a thin sheet and cut into a crescent moon shape (hence the name) often with a plain surface but frequently decorated with incised lines.  A lunula from Ross in Westmeath has a pattern of lines, triangles and chevrons incised into its surface.  The pattern is concentrated in the narrow ends of the crescent.  Four patterned areas on each side have parallel lines with chevrons inside and separated by hatched lines.  There are rows of hatched triangles on each side of the parallel lines.   The main body of the lunula is plain and is surrounded by two rows of lines edged in triangles. 

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