Iron Age torcs

Iron Age

National Museum of Scotland

circa 300-100BC

These four torcs, or neck ornaments are the most important Iron Age hoard found in Scotland to date. They are not only beautiful works of art in their own right, but cast fresh light on the European connections of people in Scotland, change our picture of gold in the British Iron Age, and illustrate the wealth and craft skills of the period. The largest torc with the decorated finials is a remarkable fusion of Iron Age and Mediterranean styles and there is no torc like this from the rest of Europe. It might represent a craft-worker from the Mediterranean, plying their trade north of the Alps; a special commission gifted to a powerful person in Britain; or the experimental work of someone who had seen and handled Mediterranean material. These works were acquired with assistance from the Wolfson Foundation.

• Medium: gold
• Dimensions: diameters between 13.5 and 15cm
• Art Fund Grant: £100000 ( Total: £462,000)
• ArtFunded in: 2011
• Vendor: Queen's & Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer

Provenance

Found by metal detectorist David Lodge at Blair Drummond, Stirlingshire, 2009 and declared Treasure Trove, 2010.

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