Hay is for Horses: Making and Using a Traditional-Style Irish Straw Harness

Abstract

The lack of metal lorinery in the archaeological record of early medieval Ireland is addressed through a hypothesis that post-Iron Age bridles were made of straw and rushes, which did not survive deposition. Reconstruction and testing of a straw bridle show the material to be strong and quite suitable for vernacular use. It also raises questions as to the agency of using straw instead of leather, and what this may tell us of the techno-cultural transitions each side of Ireland's Iron Age.

Keywords

• horse
• early middle ages
• ireland
• (re)construction