Bronze artefacts have been found in some lowland bogs, probably deposited in religious ceremonies. Population continued to increase and trade between neighbouring communities improved although some inter-tribal wars must also have occurred. On the whole, society seems to have been more egalitarian than in the past, but with a definite aristocracy evident. The Bronze Age lacks the massive passage tombs that characterised the Neolithic. Its people opted instead for simpler cist burials or, at the most, burials in wedge tombs.
Wedge tombs consist of a single stone chamber covered with earth.
Other megalithic constructions include henges, which are large earthen circles constructed for religious purposes, which seem to have included animal sacrifice. Towards the end of the period, large numbers of stone circles were constructed, although these were restricted to two geographical areas in Ulster and Munster. These, too, probably had ceremonial functions. In a period of time beginning around 500BC, the Celtic culture which was expanding in central Europe reached the Britain and Ireland. While probably not an invasion as such, the Celts arrived in sufficient numbers to replace the language and culture of Ireland's Bronze Age residents with that of the Celts.