Irish Late Iron Age Equestrian Equipment in its Insular and Continental Context (Queen’s University Belfast Irish Archaeological Monograph)

Irish Late Iron Age Equestrian Equipment in its Insular and Continental Context is the first practical archaeological study of Irish Iron Age lorinery.The volume examines the bits and bosals (Y-pieces) holistically, using practical stable-yard knowledge merged with archaeological techniques such as morphometrics, use-wear, GIS, functional comparison to European and British equipment and distribution analysis to place it within its time and place.Irish Iron Age artefacts have always been beset by issues of chronology, but by using these various analytical methods, a more precise timeframe for the objects is indicated.A complex relationship with Roman Britain and the Empire also becomes visible, with aspects of identity and belief being expressed through the sophisticated equestrian equipment.The analysis of the bridle components reveal that the Ireland of the first centuries AD shares some characteristics with other boundary zones of the Roman Empire, such as Scotland and northern Germa