tour 4 of 11
Our Top Ten British Treasures
The Snettisham Hoard
At least eleven hoards of torcs, ingots and
coins have been found at Snettisham since 1948, when three hoards
(A-C) were ploughed to the surface (now in Norwich Castle Museum,
along with single torcs found in 1964, 1968 and 1973). Hoards D and
E, found while ploughing in 1950, were acquired by the British
Museum.
In August 1990 a
huge deposit of broken torcs, bracelets, ingots and coins (Hoard F)
was discovered, prompting the British Museum to organize an
archaeological excavation. Five more hoards were found: G, H, J and
K were 'nests' of torcs in very shallow pits, while
the more impressive Hoard L had been buried in two instalments, an
upper nest of silver and bronze, and a deeper deposit of mainly
gold torcs.
Most of the
hoards were buried about 70 BC, and the entire collection is the
largest deposit of gold and silver from Iron Age Europe, weighing
in at around 20 kg of silver and 15 kg of
gold.
The 'Great
Torc' is made from just over a kilogram of gold mixed with
silver. It is made from sixty-four threads (1.9 mm wide) twisted
together 8 threads at a time to make 8 separate ropes of metal.
These were then twisted around each to make the final torc. The
ends of the torc were cast in moulds and welded onto the
ropes.