Stirling hoard
Encyclopedia
The Stirling torcs make up a hoard
of four gold Iron Age
torc
s, a type of necklace, all of which date to between 300 B.C. and 100 B.C. and which were buried deliberately at some point in antiquity. They were found by a metal detectorist in a field near Blair Drummond
, Stirlingshire
, Scotland
on 29 September 2009. The hoard has been described as the most significant discovery of Iron Age metalwork in Scotland and is said to be of international significance. The torcs were valued at £462,000, and after a public appeal were acquired for the National Museums of Scotland
in March 2011.
Booth took the torcs home and washed them in water. After researching them on the internet, he completed a form on the Scottish Treasure Trove website and sent a photograph to the Scottish Treasure Trove Unit at the National Museum of Scotland
in Edinburgh. Dr Fraser Hunter said he "almost fell off my seat" when he first saw photographs of the discovery the next morning, and members of staff had arrived at the site within three hours. The subsequent archaeological excavation at the site exposed the remains of the wooden roundhouse but found no more artefacts.
, a prehistoric circular building. This building may have had religious significance, as hoard finds tend to be either votive offerings to the gods, or items of great value that had been hidden in time of unrest or war.
All four torcs date to between 300 and 100 BC. Two ribbon torcs, in perfect condition, are relatively simple in design. They are fashioned from a flat strip of gold which has then been twisted, and represent a local style of jewellery, originating equally from Scotland and Ireland. One has plain hooked terminals while the other has more decorative disc terminals.
The third torc is broken, with only half of the original artefact surviving in two fragments. It is an annular torc, which would have had a hinge and catch. It is of ornate design compared to the ribbon torcs, and experts have identified it as a type originating from the Toulouse
area in southern France. It is the first of its kind to have been found in Britain.
The fourth torc is a looped terminal torc. It is made from eight gold wires twisted together. It has intricately decorated terminals and has a short length of safety chain. It has been described by Dr Fraser Hunter, Iron Age and Roman curator at the National Museum of Scotland
, as a remarkable hybrid of Mediterranean craftsmanship and more traditional Iron Age motifs. This might have been made for a local chieftain by a craftsman who had learned his craft in the Mediterranean region, and suggests significant links between Scotland and Southern Europe. The last significant find of torcs in Scotland was in 1857, when two gold torcs were found on a farm in Moray
.
According to Scottish Treasure Trove laws, the crown can claim any archaeological objects found in Scotland. Finders have no ownership rights and must report any objects to Scotland's Treasure Trove Unit. Booth is entitled to a reward equal to the value of the torcs. Dr David Caldwell of the Scottish Treasure Trove Unit said that the torcs would "definitely" stay in Scotland. In October 2010 the torcs were valued at £462,000 by the Scottish Archaeological Finds Allocation Panel, and the crown stated it would allocate the torcs to National Museums Scotland if the museum made an ex-gratia payment of £462,000 to the finder, David Booth; National Museums Scotland had until April 2011 to raise the required sum of money.
By March 2011 the amount was raised by a public appeal and significant grants by the Art Fund and the National Heritage Memorial Fund
, and the hoard was acquired.
Hoard
In archaeology, a hoard is a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground. This would usually be with the intention of later recovery by the hoarder; hoarders sometimes died before retrieving the hoard, and these surviving hoards may be uncovered by...
of four gold Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
torc
Torc
A torc, also spelled torq or torque, is a large, usually rigid, neck ring typically made from strands of metal twisted together. The great majority are open-ended at the front, although many seem designed for near-permanent wear and would have been difficult to remove. Smaller torcs worn around...
s, a type of necklace, all of which date to between 300 B.C. and 100 B.C. and which were buried deliberately at some point in antiquity. They were found by a metal detectorist in a field near Blair Drummond
Blair Drummond
Blair Drummond is a small rural community near Stirling in Scotland, predominantly located along the A84 road.-Description:...
, Stirlingshire
Stirling (council area)
Stirling is one of the 32 unitary local government council areas of Scotland, and has a population of about 87,000 . It was created under the Local Government etc Act 1994 with the boundaries of the Stirling district of the former Central local government region, and it covers most of the former...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
on 29 September 2009. The hoard has been described as the most significant discovery of Iron Age metalwork in Scotland and is said to be of international significance. The torcs were valued at £462,000, and after a public appeal were acquired for the National Museums of Scotland
National Museums of Scotland
National Museums Scotland is the organization that runs several national museums of Scotland. It is one of the country's National Collections, and holds internationally important collections of natural sciences, decorative arts, world cultures, science and technology, and Scottish history and...
in March 2011.
Discovery
The finder was a novice metal detectorist, David Booth, who found the torcs on his first treasure-hunting outing, using a basic model metal detector. Having identified an area he considered to be of good potential, Booth obtained the landowner's permission to search on his land.I parked up and got the metal detector out. There was an area of flat ground behind the car, and I thought, I’ll just scan this first, before I head out into the field. Literally about seven steps behind where I had parked, I found them.
Booth took the torcs home and washed them in water. After researching them on the internet, he completed a form on the Scottish Treasure Trove website and sent a photograph to the Scottish Treasure Trove Unit at the National Museum of Scotland
National Museum of Scotland
The National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland, was formed in 2006 with the merger of the Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, and the Royal Museum next door, with collections covering science and technology, natural history, and world...
in Edinburgh. Dr Fraser Hunter said he "almost fell off my seat" when he first saw photographs of the discovery the next morning, and members of staff had arrived at the site within three hours. The subsequent archaeological excavation at the site exposed the remains of the wooden roundhouse but found no more artefacts.
The torcs
All four torcs were buried together, some six to eight inches below the ground surface. Subsequent archaeological investigations determined that the torcs had originally been buried within a roundhouseRoundhouse (dwelling)
The roundhouse is a type of house with a circular plan, originally built in western Europe before the Roman occupation using walls made either of stone or of wooden posts joined by wattle-and-daub panels and a conical thatched roof. Roundhouses ranged in size from less than 5m in diameter to over 15m...
, a prehistoric circular building. This building may have had religious significance, as hoard finds tend to be either votive offerings to the gods, or items of great value that had been hidden in time of unrest or war.
All four torcs date to between 300 and 100 BC. Two ribbon torcs, in perfect condition, are relatively simple in design. They are fashioned from a flat strip of gold which has then been twisted, and represent a local style of jewellery, originating equally from Scotland and Ireland. One has plain hooked terminals while the other has more decorative disc terminals.
The third torc is broken, with only half of the original artefact surviving in two fragments. It is an annular torc, which would have had a hinge and catch. It is of ornate design compared to the ribbon torcs, and experts have identified it as a type originating from the Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
area in southern France. It is the first of its kind to have been found in Britain.
The fourth torc is a looped terminal torc. It is made from eight gold wires twisted together. It has intricately decorated terminals and has a short length of safety chain. It has been described by Dr Fraser Hunter, Iron Age and Roman curator at the National Museum of Scotland
National Museum of Scotland
The National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland, was formed in 2006 with the merger of the Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, and the Royal Museum next door, with collections covering science and technology, natural history, and world...
, as a remarkable hybrid of Mediterranean craftsmanship and more traditional Iron Age motifs. This might have been made for a local chieftain by a craftsman who had learned his craft in the Mediterranean region, and suggests significant links between Scotland and Southern Europe. The last significant find of torcs in Scotland was in 1857, when two gold torcs were found on a farm in Moray
Moray
Moray is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland.- History :...
.
After discovery
Following the completion of the archaeological excavations, the hoard was made public on 4 November 2009 when it was shown to the press in Edinburgh by Booth and museum staff at the National Museum of Scotland.According to Scottish Treasure Trove laws, the crown can claim any archaeological objects found in Scotland. Finders have no ownership rights and must report any objects to Scotland's Treasure Trove Unit. Booth is entitled to a reward equal to the value of the torcs. Dr David Caldwell of the Scottish Treasure Trove Unit said that the torcs would "definitely" stay in Scotland. In October 2010 the torcs were valued at £462,000 by the Scottish Archaeological Finds Allocation Panel, and the crown stated it would allocate the torcs to National Museums Scotland if the museum made an ex-gratia payment of £462,000 to the finder, David Booth; National Museums Scotland had until April 2011 to raise the required sum of money.
By March 2011 the amount was raised by a public appeal and significant grants by the Art Fund and the National Heritage Memorial Fund
National Heritage Memorial Fund
The National Heritage Memorial Fund is a non-departmental public body set up under the National Heritage Act 1980 in memory of people who gave their lives for the United Kingdom....
, and the hoard was acquired.
See also
- Newark TorcNewark TorcThe Newark Torc is a complete Iron Age gold alloy torc found by a metal detectorist on the outskirts of Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, England in February 2005....
- Sedgeford TorcSedgeford TorcThe Sedgeford Torc is a broken Iron Age gold torc found near the village of Sedgeford in Norfolk. The main part of the torc was found during harrowing of a field in 1965, and the missing terminal was found by Dr. Steve Hammond during fieldwork by the Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological...
- Staffordshire HoardStaffordshire HoardThe Staffordshire Hoard is the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork . Discovered in a field near the village of Hammerwich, near Lichfield, in Staffordshire, England on 5 July 2009, it consists of some 3,500 items that are nearly all martial in character...
- Vale of York Hoard
- List of hoards in Britain
External links
- "Metal detectorist on first trip finds iron-age treasure" The Guardian
- "Treasure hunt novice struck £1m gold on first outing" The Times
- "£1m golden hoard rewrites history of ancient Scotland" The Times
- "Treasure hunter found £1m haul on first outing" The Telegraph
- "On first time out with his metal detector, amateur treasure hunter finds £1m hoard of ancient golden jewellery" Daily Mail
- "Amateur 'stunned' after £1m find" BBC