Ancient gold with a twist in its story is put on display

The 3,000-year-old torc was found four years ago in boggy ground at Corrard in Co Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, by a passer-by who at first thought he had found a car engine spring. He realized its significance two years later, and it was declared treasure.

The rare piece weighs 720 grams and is approximately 87% gold, 11% silver and 2% copper. Its design would have been fashionable in Britain, Ireland and France between 1300-1100BC.

Torcs have been closely associated with the Celtic people of Bronze Age Europe since at least Roman times, when figures were often identified as Celtic in sculpture and paintings by the torcs they wore.

Made by smiths who expertly twisted the metal into a ribbon-like appearance (which gives the object its name, from the Latin torqueo, ‘to twist’), torcs were worn around the neck, waist, arm or breast.

However, a mystery surrounds the Ulster torc. In its present condition it could not have been worn anywhere on the body as it has been deliberately coiled like a spring.

The torc’s original design would have been as a large circular hoop with two solid terminals at either end. These are believed to have acted as interlocking clasps, much like a clasp on a necklace.

The reason for the change of shape is a mystery. The practice of deliberately coiling torcs before burial is more common in Southern England. Only one other torc in Ireland has been found in a similar shape.

Some have suggested that the coiling was an act to ‘decommission’ the object after its owner died. Alternatively, it may have been a votive offering; an object made with the intention of deliberately burying it as an offering to the gods.

Ulster Musuem, Belfast

More on The Snettisham Hoard

The Snettisham Hoard, Iron Age, c. 75 BCE, Ken Hill, Snettisham, Norfolk, England. The crown jewels of Norfolk of over 2000 years ago, gold and silver torcs worn around the neck to display the wearer's importance. Torcs were first found at Snettisham in 1948 and 1950, and experts thought no more were buried there. In 1990, metal detectorist Charles Hodder found 9 kilograms of gold/silver fragments. He reported his finds and he and archaeologists found 75 torcs, carefully buried in small pits.

Gold Torc

Marriage Torc

One of the broken Torcs

The Snettisham Hoard

The Snettisham Hoard is a series of discoveries of Iron Age precious metal, found in the Snettisham area of the English county of Norfolk between 1948 and 1973.

The hoard consists of metal, jet and over 150 gold torc fragments, over 70 of which form complete torcs, dating from BC 70. Though the origins are unknown it is of a high enough quality to have been royal treasure of the Iceni, (Brythonic tribe in Britannia).

The hoard is considered number 4 in the top ten list of British archaeological finds selected by experts at the British Museum  

"The Great Torc, Snettisham, buried around 100 BC. The torc is one of the most elaborate golden objects from the ancient world. It is made from gold mixed with silver and weighs over 1 kg. Torcs are made from complex threads of metal, grouped into ropes and twisted around each other. The ends of the torc were gast in moulds and welded onto the metal ropes.

Treasures of the Sarmatians: Jewelry belonging to a Young Sarmatian Queen

The unique set of the golden jewelry that was found in the kurgan tomb № 10 of the Kobiakov sepulture (AD 1-2) knows no equals. The precious torc that was found in the kurgan indicates that this tomb and jewelry in it belonged to the young Sarmatian queen. 

Ancient Gold: Gold Torc of the Warrrior

Depictions of the gods and goddesses of Celtic mythology frequently show them wearing torcs. One of the earliest known depictions of a torc can be found on the Warrior of Hirschlanden (6th century BC)

This torc was found in a grave beside which stood the statue of the warrior. 

Figural and ornamental elements are suspended from the right, which also shows ten masks. The particularly striking feature is the three conical studs similar to those worn by the statue. They might all depict the same deceased.

Kunst der Kelten, Historisches Museum Bern.

Hochdorf Prince

The Prince had been buried with a gold-plated torc on his neck, a bracelet on his right arm, and most notably, thin embossed gold plaques were on his now-disintigrated shoe.