Fragment from a gold decorated torc

Iron Age, around 75 BC
Found at Ken Hill, Snettisham, Norfolk, England

A golden face from Snettisham

This face is staring from the end of a gold torc. Unlike the Great Torc, which is made from 'ropes' of metal, this torc was made from a sheet of decorated gold rolled into a tube. Before the sheet was rolled into tube the face decoration was hammered into the back of the sheet (repoussé).

The torc had been broken over two thousand years ago and this terminal (the end) is the only part found. However, it was not in any of the hoards excavated in situ in 1990, but was found in the soil.

R. Rainbird Clarke, 'The Early Iron Age treasure from Snettisham, Norfolk', Proceedings of the Prehistoric, 20 (1954)

I.M. Stead, 'The Snettisham Treasure: excavations in 1990', Antiquity-3, 65 (1991)