The Stirling torcs make up a

hoard A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...

of four gold

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 mostly appl ...

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 ...

s, a type of necklace, all of which date to between 300 and 100 BC and which were buried deliberately at some point in antiquity. They were found by a

metal detectorist A metal detector is an instrument that detects the nearby presence of metal. Metal detectors are useful for finding metal objects on the surface, underground, and under water. The unit itself, consist of a control box, and an adjustable shaft, ...

in a field near

Blair Drummond Blair Drummond is a small rural community northwest of Stirling in the Stirling district of Scotland, predominantly located along the A84 road. Lying to the north of the River Forth, the community is within the registration county of Perthshire ...

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling, gd, Siorrachd Sruighlea) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration countyRegisters of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. of Scotland. Its county town is Stirli ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

on 28 September 2009. The hoard has been described as the most significant discovery of Iron Age metalwork in Scotland and is said to be of international significance. The torcs were valued at £462,000, and after a public appeal were acquired for the

National Museums of Scotland National Museums Scotland (NMS; gd, Taighean-tasgaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. It runs the national museums of Scotland. NMS is one of the country's National Collections, ...

in March 2011.

Discovery

The finder was a novice metal detectorist, David Booth, who found the torcs on his first treasure-hunting outing, using a basic model metal detector. Having identified an area he considered to be of good potential, Booth obtained the landowner's permission to search on his land.

I parked up and got the metal detector out. There was an area of flat ground behind the car, and I thought, I’ll just scan this first, before I head out into the field. Literally about seven steps behind where I had parked, I found them.

Booth took the torcs home and washed them in water. After researching them on the internet, he completed a form on the Scottish Treasure Trove website and sent a photograph to the Scottish Treasure Trove Unit at the

National Museum of Scotland The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland, was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, and the adjacent Royal Scottish Museum (opened in ...

in Edinburgh. Dr Fraser Hunter said he "almost fell off isseat" when he first saw photographs of the discovery the next morning, and members of staff had arrived at the site within three hours. The subsequent archaeological excavation at the site exposed the remains of a wooden roundhouse but found no more artefacts.

The torcs

All four torcs were buried together, some below the surface. Subsequent archaeological investigations determined that the torcs had originally been buried within a roundhouse, a prehistoric circular building. This building may have had religious significance, as hoard finds tend to be either votive offerings to the gods, or items of great value that had been hidden in time of unrest or war, and because the building did not seem to have features like a hearth associated with a dwelling. All four torcs date to between 300 and 100 BC, they are highly and unexpectedly varied in form and style which greatly adds to the significance of the find. Two twisted ribbon torcs (numbered 1–2 in the photo of the display), in perfect condition, are elegant and relatively simple in design. They are fashioned from a flat strip of gold which has then been twisted, and represent a local style of jewellery, originating equally from Scotland and Ireland, and going back to the Late

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

. One has plain hooked terminals while the other has more decorative disc terminals.MOS The third torc is broken, with only half of the original artefact surviving in two fragments. It is a tubular annular torc, which would have had a hinge and catch. It is of ornate design compared to the ribbon torcs, and experts have identified it as a type originating from the

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

area in southern France. It is the first of its kind to have been found in Britain. The fourth torc is a looped terminal torc, complete and in good condition. It is made from eight gold wires twisted together. It has intricately decorated terminals and has a short length of safety chain. It has been described by Dr Fraser Hunter, Iron Age and Roman curator at the

, as a remarkable hybrid of Mediterranean craftsmanship and more traditional Iron Age motifs. This might have been made for a local chieftain by a craftsman who had learned his craft in the Mediterranean region, and with the third torc suggests significant links between Scotland and Southern Europe. There are no directly comparable other artefacts. The last significant find of torcs in Scotland was in 1857, when gold ribbon torcs were found on Law Farm,

Moray Moray () gd, Moireibh or ') is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Between 1975 ...

. The eclecticism of the styles and origins is comparable to that of the objects in the

Broighter Hoard The Broighter Gold or more correctly, the Broighter Hoard, is a hoard of gold artefacts from the Iron Age of the 1st century BC that were found in 1896 by Tom Nicholl and James Morrow on farmland near Limavady, in the north of Ireland (now Nort ...

from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, probably of a slightly later period.

After discovery

Following the completion of the archaeological excavations, the torcs were made public on 4 November 2009 when they were shown to the press in Edinburgh by Booth and museum staff at the National Museum of Scotland. According to Scottish Treasure Trove laws, the crown can claim any archaeological objects found in Scotland. Finders have no ownership rights and must report any objects to Scotland's Treasure Trove Unit. Booth is entitled to a reward equal to the value of the torcs. Dr David Caldwell of the Scottish Treasure Trove Unit said that the torcs would "definitely" stay in Scotland. In October 2010 the torcs were valued at £462,000 by the Scottish Archaeological Finds Allocation Panel, and the crown stated it would allocate the torcs to

National Museums Scotland National Museums Scotland (NMS; gd, Taighean-tasgaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. It runs the national museums of Scotland. NMS is one of the country's National Collections, ...

if the museum made an ex-gratia payment of £462,000 to the finder, David Booth; National Museums Scotland had until April 2011 to raise the required sum of money. By March 2011 the amount was raised by a public appeal and significant grants by the

Art 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 ...

and the

National Heritage Memorial Fund The National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) was set up in 1980 to save the most outstanding parts of the British national heritage, in memory of those who have given their lives for the UK. It replaced the National Land Fund which had fulfilled the ...

, and the hoard was acquired.

Notes

References

*Cahill, Mary, "The Dooyork Hoard", ''Irish Arts Review'' (2002-), Vol. 19, No. 1 (Summer, 2002), pp. 118–121
JSTOR
*"MOS"
Museum of Scotland page

External links