File:Bronze Age gold armlet detail of terminal (FindID 711146).jpg

English: Treasure reference number 2015 T204: a fragment of a Middle Bronze Age gold torc

Potential Treasure Report for H M Coroner

2015 T204: Near Grimsby, Lincolnshire: Gold torc fragment of Middle Bronze Age date

Circumstances: On the 12^th of March 2015 a fragment of Middle Bronze Age gold torc was found by [ ] whilst searching with a metal detector on cultivated land with the permission of the land owner.

Description: A fragment consisting of a length of the body and one terminal of a gold torc of Middle Bronze Age date. The fragment has an uneven break and the terminal is trumpet-shaped and undecorated. The terminal is separated from the body by a double collar. There are a number of areas of damage that appear to have to been sustained prior to deposition and which may have been the result of heating the fragment, probably in the course of breaking it down. It is concentrated on the outer facing surfaces but towards the broken end there is a section (of c.26mm length) that has lost decoration in the round and has a slightly thicker diameter (by c.1mm) than the rest of the body of the torc. A number of scratches, scuffs and striations are also visible on the surfaces.On the inner surface of the most acute bend (closest to the broken end), a 'c'-shaped impression has been made in the course of applying a hot rod-shaped instrument, probably during the process of fragmentation. The trumpet-shaped terminal has been straightened out from what was presumably the original, bent back position of torcs of this period and broad type (Eogan 1967). This action is represented by small stress fissures on what would have been the underside of the terminal.

Dimensions: Length (total): 233mm; Length of terminal (to collar): 85mm; Length of body to collar: 148mm; Diameter at collar: 5mm; Diameter at terminal (max.): 7.5mm; Diameter of torc body: 4mm (max. 5mm); Weight: 57.26 grams

Analysis of metal composition

Non-destructive X-ray fluorescence analysis undertaken by the Department of Conservation and Scientific Research at the British Museum indicated a surface composition of approximately 75-77% gold, 16-18% silver, the rest being copper. This composition is consistent along the length.

Discussion

The torc cannot be defined as a bar torc (of the twisted or flange twisted variety) in the traditional sense, as it was not created by twisting the gold: a key feature of the type as defined by Eogan (1967,131-2). It belongs to a closely related but rare type that has been cast rather than twisted (M. Cahill pers comm), examples include one from Aughrim, Co. Galway (Armstrong 1933, 61, no. 76, pl. xii, 94) and two lost examples from Co. Armagh in Ireland (Eogan 1983, 28-9, no. 8, fig 5:A). It is possible that other examples have been overlooked in the past and greater attention could be paid to variation in the manufacture of these torcs.

Single collars (positioned between torc terminal and body: see Taylor 1980, 61-2) are known, for example on a torc from Co. Mayo (Taylor 1980, No. 40), Friarsland, Co. Kildare (Eogan 1967, 159) and Fresné-la-Mére in Lower Normandy (Ibid., 159), but no parallel for the double collar of the fragment in question is known by the present author.

Bar torcs have a distribution primarily focussed on Ireland, Wales, Southern England, and North West France (Eogan 1967; Savory 1977, 49, fig. 5). The near Grimbsby find is towards the northern edge of the core distribution. They are a feature of ornaments belonging to the Penard phase of the Middle Bronze Age (c.1300/1250-1150/1100 BC) (see Roberts 2007).

Evidence for the melting and breaking down of Penard phase gold torcs was also noted in the case of a find from Ancaster, Lincolnshire (Treasure case 2011 T890).

Conclusion

As a single object of prehistoric date with a precious metal (gold) content greater than 10%, the Grimsby torc fragment qualifies as Treasure Act (1996) (Designation Order 2002).

Bibliography

Armstrong, E.C.R. 1933. Guide to the Collection of Irish Antiquities. Catalogue of Irish Gold Ornaments in the Collection of the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin: The Stationery Office

Eogan , G 1967. 'The associated finds of gold bar torcs', Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 98 (2), 129-75

Eogan, G. 1983. The Hoards of the Irish Later Bronze Age. Dublin: University College

Roberts, B. 2007. 'Adorning the living but not the dead: a reassessment of Middle Bronze Age ornaments in Britain', Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 73: 135-67

Savory, H. 1977. 'A new hoard of Bronze Age gold ornaments from [Capel Isaf, Dyfed] Wales', Archaeol Atlantica 2, 37-53

Author

Dr Neil Wilkin, Curator, European Bronze Age collections, The British Museum

3^rd October 2015