Now it's clear that these Neolithic axes weretransported all over lreland,as well as to Scotlandand the south of England.It's not really surprisingthat axes from 'axe factories' in England have alsobeen found in Ireland.At the very least,this indicatesthat there was a link between the two islands duringthat period.
One of the most useful innovations of the coloniserswas pottery making,which was quite unknown toIrish hunter-gatherers.The pottery was probablymade by shaping clay into a ball with the hand,andthen hollowing it until the walls were the right thickness.After firing,the outside was oftenpolished.This would have helped the pots to retain water,as they weren't glazed.Now we knowthat the clay used usually came from local sources,which suggests that manufacture was on afairly small scale,even though thousands of fragments are usually found at Neolithic sites.
In the course of time decoration began to appear.At first this looked like a series of stitchesand was just around the tops of the pots.This could have been an imitation of earlier vesselswhich were made of leather sewn onto wood.Then eventually pots with decoration all over....