“The forests cast their fruits in husks and rind.”
Grain (species not stated), and various kinds of wild fruit, have been discovered; walnuts at Lough Nahinch, cherrystones at Ballinlough.[102]
_Hammer-stones._--It cannot be doubted that in a few instances the round stones, sometimes designated “sling-stones,” have been artificially worked, but the great majority must be looked upon simply as water-worn pebbles that had been utilized as hammer-stones. Many of the egg-shaped specimens are more or less frayed or chipped at their extremities; and similar stones, used, as is supposed, for breaking crustacea, are common in the “shell mounds” on the coast, as also amongst the “kitchen middens” of ancient settlements that abound within the sand dunes of the north-western littoral of Ireland. A large flat stone implement, with circular termination, rough sides, and polished edges, was found in the crannog of “The Miracles,” county Fermanagh. It measured about eleven inches by three, and was one inch thick. Its flat end shows marks of wear, as if used for a pounding instrument. A stone exactly similar was found in a “kitchen midden” at Ardnahue, county Carlow, which had all the appearance of having been grasped in the hand for use, hence the edges polished from constant friction.[103]
[Illustration: Fig. 37.--Stone Implement from the Crannog of “The Miracles.”]
_Mammalia._--Amongst animal remains, those of the _Sus scrofa_ are very numerous. This species of wild swine lived in the woods and marshes, was long-faced, and had great length of tusks.
The accompanying illustration represents a lower jaw of this ancient Irish pig, procured from the crannog of Lough Gur, county Limerick; it is of a yellowish-brown colour, a hue that pervades all the animal remains from that locality.
[Illustration: Fig. 39.--Head and Antlers of Cervus elephas.]
Bones of the red deer (_Cervus elephas_) are extremely plentiful in lacustrine sites. It is the wild animal most frequently mentioned in early Irish history, and of which there were many until a comparatively modern epoch: so late as 1752 they abounded in the barony of Erris, county Mayo, and some few exist still in Killarney. The head and antlers here shown came from the crannog of Ballinderry, county Westmeath. The horns in this specimen are still attached to the cranium, and there were originally seven tines on the right, and eight on the left side. Bones of the _Magaceros Hibernicus_, or Irish big-horn, of the wolf and fox, of a small breed of horse, and of the ass, have been also met with. The remains of sheep belong to the horned class. There are several specimens of the four-horned variety of the goat (fig. 42), but those of the ordinary kind are more numerous: figs. 40 and 41 are from Dunshaughlin. Amongst the vast collection of animal remains on the site of this crannog were heads of canine animals: of the largest of these the accompanying cut gives a faithful representation. “It is nearly eleven inches in length, measured from the end of the occipital ridge to the alveolar process at the roots of the upper incisors, and is principally characterized by the magnitude of the crest.”[104] The profile view of the outline, and the prolonged muzzle, rather lead to the belief of its having belonged to the true Irish wolf-dog of former times, a large long-coated hound, of an iron-grey colour.