The Snettisham Hoard or ''Snettisham Treasure'' is a series of discoveries of

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

precious metal, found in the

Snettisham Snettisham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is located near the west coast of Norfolk, some south of the seaside resort of Hunstanton, north of the town of King's Lynn and northwest of the city of Norwic ...

area of the English county of

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

between 1948 and 1973.

Iron age hoard

The hoard consists of

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

, jet and over 150 gold/silver/copper alloy

torc A torc, also spelled torq or torque, is a large rigid or stiff neck ring in metal, made either as a single piece or from strands twisted together. The great majority are open at the front, although some had hook and ring closures and a few had ...

fragments, over 70 of which form complete torcs, dating from BC 70. Probably the most famous item from the hoard is the

Great Torc from Snettisham 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 spectacul ...

, which is now held by the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. Though the origins are unknown, it is of a high enough quality to have been royal treasure of the

Iceni The Iceni ( , ) or Eceni were a Brittonic tribe of eastern Britain during the Iron Age and early Roman era. Their territory included present-day Norfolk and parts of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, and bordered the area of the Corieltauvi to the we ...

. Recent electron microscopy research by the British Museum reveal the wear patterns in the torcs, the chemical composition of the metal, and the cut marks which reduced many of the torcs into fragments. One hypothesis suggests the deliberate destruction of valuable items was a form of

votive offering A votive offering or votive deposit is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally ...

. The finds are deposited in

Norwich Castle Museum Norwich Castle is a medieval royal fortification in the city of Norwich, in the English county of Norfolk. William the Conqueror (1066–1087) ordered its construction in the aftermath of the Norman conquest of England. The castle was used as a ...

and the British Museum. The hoard was ranked as number 4 in the list of British archaeological finds selected by experts at the

for the 2003 BBC Television documentary, '' Our Top Ten Treasures,'' presented by

Adam Hart-Davis Adam John Hart-Davis (born 4 July 1943) is an English scientist, author, photographer, historian and broadcaster. He presented the BBC television series '' Local Heroes'' and '' What the Romans Did for Us'', the latter spawning several spin-off ...

. Similar specimens are the

Sedgeford Torc The Sedgeford Torc is a broken Iron Age gold torc found near the village of Sedgeford in Norfolk. The main part of the torc was found during harrowing of a field in 1965, and the missing terminal was found by Dr. Steve Hammond during fieldw ...

, found in 1965, and the

Newark Torc The Newark Torc is a complete Iron Age gold alloy torc found by a metal detectorist on the outskirts of Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, England, in February 2005. The torc is made from electrum, an alloy of gold, silver and copper, weighs ...

, found in 2005, as well as the six torcs from the

Ipswich Hoard There are two notable Ipswich Hoards (which is to say, ancient hoards found in Ipswich, the county town of Suffolk, England). The first was a hoard of Anglo-Saxon coins discovered in 1863. The second was a hoard of six Iron Age gold torcs that ...

found in 1968-9.

Romano-British hoard

In 1985 there was also a find of

Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...

jewellery and raw materials buried in a clay pot in AD 155, the Snettisham Jeweller's Hoard. Though it has no direct connection with the nearby Iron Age finds, it may be evidence of a long tradition of gold- and silver-working in the area.''The Snettisham Roman Jeweller's Hoard'' by Catherine Johns (British Museum Press, 1997)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Norfolk Museums Service
Objects of historical interest in Norfolk Archaeology of Norfolk Archaeological sites in Norfolk Prehistoric sites in England Treasure troves of the Iron Age Treasure troves of Roman Britain Treasure troves in England Torcs Prehistoric objects in the British Museum Romano-British objects in the British Museum Ancient Celtic metalwork 1948 archaeological discoveries 1973 archaeological discoveries 1948 in England 1973 in England Hoards from Iron Age Britain

Iron age hoard

Romano-British hoard

See also

References

External links