The rediscovery of a gold torc fragment from Drumsallagh Co Down UJA 52 1989 (original) (raw)
The rediscovery of a gold flange twisted torc fragment found in the eighteenth century at Drumsallagh, Co. Down is described.
Related papers
Precious metal torcs from the Iron Age Snettisham Treasure: metallurgy and analysis
, in E. Pernicka & R. Schwab (eds) Under the Volcano: Proceedings of the SMEIA held in Mannheim, Germany, 20-22 April 2010: 135-156, 2014
The Iron Age Snettisham treasure consists of several hoards forming a large assemblage of artefacts including complete gold alloy tubular and twisted wire torcs as well as numerous fragments of broken torcs. These torcs have been the subject of a number of studies and were manufactured using sheets and wires using a range of gold, silver and copper alloys, as well as bronze, and applying a broad selection of the archaeometric investigation of a number of the precious metal torcs in the British Museum and - sentative number of gold alloy wires and sheets from hoard ‘F’, which contains a large number of broken and cut pieces and appears to cover the range of alloys used in the whole assemblage. This study indicated a wide range of techniques and ternary gold, silver and copper alloys used by the late Iron Age goldsmiths, showing a high level of craftsmanship. Tubular torcs were produced from thin gold sheets while twisted wire torcs were created by twisting together wires in pairs or multiple strands. The wires display a range of different colours produced through deliberate surface treatment during manufacture, resulting in the surface enrichment of gold and silver by the depletion of copper. This was achieved while the wire was being handworked to the desired shape and thickness through repeated cycles of hammering, annealing and pickling in an acidic medium. Some of the sheets studied process. All torcs, both tubular and twisted wire, display a variety of terminals. These include bent loop wires and cast-on terminals of the buffer type and of the larger hollow type with Celtic relief motifs. The latter terminals were further embellished with chased, engraved and punched decoration. This paper does not attempt to explain the reasons for the existence of this hoard but illustrates the quality of craftsmanship and the large array of modus operandi used to produce the objects.
Lamb, A.W. 2020. An Iron Age Torc from Burnley, Lancashire
Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 2020
In 1802 a farm worker in the parish of Cliviger, Burnley, Lancashire discovered a precious metal torc whilst ploughing. He alerted the owner of the land, the vicar Thomas Whitaker, to his discovery. Whitaker correctly identified the torc as dating to the Iron Age and subsequently described its discovery when he later wrote a history of his parish. The torc ultimately came to be acquired by Manchester Museum, where it remains to this day. Like many prehistoric artefacts discovered in the 18th and 19th centuries, it remained unpublished. This is despite the fact that Iron Age artefacts are comparatively rare in north-west England, whilst torcs are an infrequently recorded class of objects for Iron Age Britain in general. Furthermore, the Burnley torc is not, typologically speaking, a local object. Instead, it belongs to a group of torcs whose origins lie in south-eastern Britain, but are increasingly attested elsewhere in the island. This paper sets out to describe the Burnley torc, and in doing so, contextualise it within its broader regional and national frame.
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Related papers
'Copper-alloy artefacts'. [Early medieval mill at Kilbegly, Co. Roscommon].
In Jackman, N., Moore, C. & Rynne, C., The Mill at Kilbegly. An archaeological investigation on the route of the M6 Ballinasloe to Athlone national road scheme, T. O’Keeffe (Academic Ed.), NRA Scheme Monographs 12, The National Roads Authority, Dublin., 2013