Celtic and Prehistoric Museum, Director Harris Moore, Dingle Peninsula, Co. Kerry, Ireland, 00353 (0)66 9159191

The advent of metallurgy resulted in a brave new world of superior tools, weapons, jewellery and sculpture. This technology  first emerged in the Middle East and Central Europe during the Chalcolithic period (Copper-Stone Age - 3500 BC to 3000 BC), an era when stone tools were still widely used alongside a variety of new implements cast from pure copper. Subsequently,  tin  was added to copper creating bronze; a harder, sharper, more durable metal. This collection contains fine examples of the earliest European copper tools as well as a wide range of Early, Middle and Late Bronze Age material from Ireland, Britain and the continent.