I twirled the iron arrowhead in my hand and let John Moreland’s observation that we had found archaeological traces of the sack sink in. He was grinning. Sun-burnt pink, his hair matted with sweat, he realised the signal significance of this tiny ferrous object. John quickly described the discovery in his County Down brogue. Instantly captivated, we threaded through the vines towards his trench. Jumping down into it, John explained his reasoning. Now, the burnt walls and sooty layers assumed meaning. The workshop door had been locked. Fire arrows had incinerated it, causing it to collapse inwards, leaving a thick vein of charcoal and the tell-tale bolts from early versions of crossbows. In among the charcoal were broken pots and a soapstone jar. Suddenly the burnt refectory made sense. It too was a victim of San Vincenzo’s darkest hour. Too big to roof with tiles, its thatched covering – so vulnerable to fire – was its downfall.
Archaeology versus history
Decades on, these magical moments loom large in my memory. Back in 1982, when the arrowhead was found, only a fraction of the Dark Ages monastery had been excavated. Now, with almost half of it uncovered, the archaeology of the savage attack in AD 881 tells a different story to the chronicler’s lurid account from the 12th century.
Apart from the burnt levels, the tell-tale fossils of the assault are iron arrowheads. Three types have been identified: a lanceolate arrowhead, a bolt-like arrowhead, and a light dart. The lanceolate type tends to be 1.8-1.95mm long and weighs between 11.8 and 16.2 grams. The bolts are 1.49-1.83mm in length and vary in weight considerably, from 9.2 to 22.6 grams.
