© British Museum
The Snettisham Treasure
Artist: Iron Age
Location: British Museum
Date: 75 BC
Materials: gold/ gold-silver alloy/ silver
Grant:
Amount Paid: £1,850 (Total: £1,850)
Vendor: Treasure Trove: the finder
Review number: 1625 (1951)
Provenance:
Found in a field at Snettisham, Norfolk, between 1948 and 1990.
Description:
This Celtic torc is made of over a kilogram of gold mixed with silver and consists of sixty-four threads twisted eight at a time to make eight separate ropes of metal. These were then all twisted around one another to make the final torc. This torc is the most magnificent of all of the many objects unearthed during excavations at Snettisham in Norfolk and is one of Britain's greatest antiquities. Dating from circa 75 BC, this torc can, unusually, be closely dated because a small coin was found caught up within its strands. The other Iron Age objects found in this hoard are: 1) part of a torc, with one buffer terminal remaining; 2) this illustrated torc 3) a bracelet (diam. 8.2 cm); 4) a composite torc with ornamented ring-terminals (diam. 19.6 cm); 5) Atrebatin quarter stater, circa 50 BC or later, found inside the composite torc.
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