tour 4 of 6
War and art in Iron Age Britain
Snettisham Great Torc
This torc, an ornament worn around the neck,
was made with great skill and tremendous care in the first half of
the first century BC. It is made from just over a kilogram of gold,
as rare and valuable then as it is today, mixed with silver. It is
made from sixty-four threads. Eight threads were twisted together
at a time to make eight separate ropes of metal. These were then
twisted around each other to make the final torc. The ends of the
torc were cast in moulds. The hollow ends were then welded onto the
ropes.
This is only one of
a large number of gold, silver and bronze torcs buried at
Snettisham in north-west Norfolk.