The Great Torc from Snettisham or Snettisham Great Torc is a large Iron Age torc or neck ring in electrum, from the 1st century BC. It is one of the finest pieces of early Celtic art in a distinctly British Celtic style. It is the most spectacular object in the

Snettisham Hoard The Snettisham Hoard or ''Snettisham Treasure'' 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. Iron age hoard The hoard consists of metal, jet an ...

of torcs and other metalwork found in 1950 near the village of Snettisham in Norfolk,

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

. The perfectly intact torc is outstanding for its high level of craftsmanship and superb artistry. Soon after its discovery it was acquired by the British Museum.

Discovery

The torc was accidentally found in 1950 by a farmer ploughing a field at Ken Hill near the village of Snettisham. It had been buried with a bracelet and coin, which helped to date the torc to around 75 BC. Many other Iron Age hoards have since been found in the vicinity, but the Great Torc is considered by archaeologists to be the most important find from Snettisham. Declared part of a treasure trove soon after its discovery, the torc was purchased by the British Museum with the support of the

National Art Collections Fund Art Fund (formerly the National Art Collections Fund) is an independent membership-based British charity, which raises funds to aid the acquisition of artworks for the nation. It gives grants and acts as a channel for many gifts and bequests, as ...

Description

The Great Torc weighs slightly more than and is mostly made of gold alloyed with a small fraction of silver. The torc was made in two ways: 64 complex threads of metal were grouped into ropes and twisted around each other to create the crescent shaped necklace; the ends of the torc were cast in moulds with La Tène designs and welded onto the metal ropes to create the whole composition. Given the large amount of precious metals found at the site, in addition to the sophisticated design of luxurious jewellery such as this, it has been conjectured that the area around Snettisham may have been connected with royalty from the Iceni tribe, that was based in this part of England at the time.

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* * * * *{{cite journal, first= I., last= Stead, title= The Snettisham Treasure: excavations in 1990, work= Antiquity-3, volume= 65 , year= 1991 Torcs Ancient Celtic metalwork Prehistoric objects in the British Museum Gold objects Individual items of jewellery

Discovery

Description

See also

References

Bibliography