Stirling torcs: Difference between revisions

[[File:Stirling HoardDSCF6395.jpg|thumb|right|300px|A set of four [[torc]]s discovered in StirlingshirePerthshire, Scotland in 2009.]]

The '''Stirling torcs'''<ref>{{cite news | title = Iron Age gold find saved for the nation | publishernewspaper = ''[[The Scotsman]]'' | author = Claire Smith | url = http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scotland/Iron-Age-gold-find-saved.6737518.jp | accessdate = 2011-03-27 | location=Edinburgh | date=2011-03-02}}</ref> make up a [[hoard]] of four gold [[Iron Age]] [[torc]]s, a type of necklace, all of which date to between 300 and 100 BC and which were buried deliberately at some point in antiquity. They were found by a [[metal detectorist]] in a field near [[Blair Drummond]], [[Stirling (council area)|StirlingshirePerthshire]], [[Scotland]] on 28 September 2009.<ref name="bbc-2011-09-02">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-14761114 |title=BBC News - Scottish treasure trove revealed |publisher=bbc.co.uk |date=2011-09-02 |accessdate=2012-03-30}}</ref><ref name="Garrett">{{cite web|last1=Booth|first1=David|last2=Hunte|first2=Fraser|title=Stirling Hoard: Re-writing Scottish history|url=http://www.garrettnewzealand.co.nz/product_images/pdfs/booth_torcs_leaflet2.pdf|publisher=Garrett New Zealand|accessdate=17 September 2016}}</ref> The hoard has been described as the most significant discovery of Iron Age metalwork in Scotland and is said to be of international significance.<ref name=Times>{{cite news

| publishernewspaper = ''[[The Times]]''

| date=2009-11-05}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The torcs were valued at £462,000, and after a public appeal were acquired for the [[National Museums of Scotland]] in March 2011.

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.<ref name=Times/>

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.<ref name=Telegraph/> Dr Fraser Hunter said he "almost fell off [his] seat" when he first saw photographs of the discovery the next morning, and members of staff had arrived at the site within three hours.<ref>{{Cite namenews|url=DMhttps://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/nov/04/metal-detectorist-finds-gold-treasure|title=Metal detectorist on first trip finds iron-age treasure|newspaper=The Guardian |date=4 November 2009 |last1=Siddique |first1=Haroon }}</ref> The subsequent archaeological excavation at the site exposed the remains of a wooden roundhouse but found no more artefacts.{{citecitation newsneeded|date=May 2020}}

| publishernewspaper = ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]''

| date=2009-11-04}}</ref> Subsequent archaeological investigations determined that the torcs had originally been buried within a [[Roundhouse (dwelling)|roundhouse]], 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, and because the building did not seem to have features like a hearth associated with a dwelling.<ref name="Garrett" />

All four torcs date to between 300 and 100 BC, they are highly and unexpectedly varied in form and style which greatly adds to the significance of the find. Two twisted ribbon torcs (numbered 1–2 in the photo of the display), in perfect condition, are elegant and 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, and going back to the Late [[Bronze Age]]. One has plain hooked terminals while the other has more decorative disc terminals.<ref name="ReferenceA">MOS</ref>

The third torc is broken, with only half of the original artefact surviving in two fragments. It is a tubular 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.<ref>MOS< name="ReferenceA"/ref>

The fourth torc is a looped terminal torc, complete and in good condition. 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.<ref name="Garrett" /> This might have been made for a local chieftain by a craftsman who had learned his craft in the Mediterranean region, and with the third torc suggests significant links between Scotland and Southern Europe.<ref name=Times/><ref name=Telegraph/><ref name=DM/><ref name=Guardian/> There are no directly comparable other artefacts. The last significant find of torcs in Scotland was in 1857, when gold ribbon torcs were found on Law Farm, [[Moray]].<ref name=DM/><ref>MOS; Cahill, 120.</ref> The eclecticism of the styles and origins is comparable to that of the objects in the [[Broighter Hoard]] from [[Northern Ireland]], probably of a slightly later period.

| publishernewspaper = ''[[The Guardian]]''

| date=2009-11-04}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Guardian>{{cite news

| title = Museums in bid for nation’snation's most important gold hoard

*Cahill, Mary, "The Dooyork Hoard", ''Irish Arts Review'' (2002-), Vol. 19, No. 1 (Summer, 2002), pp. 118-121&nbsp;118–121, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/25502845 JSTOR]

*[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article6903772.ece "Treasure hunt novice struck £1m gold on first outing" The Times]{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100106120938/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article6901879.ece "£1m golden hoard rewrites history of ancient Scotland" The Times]

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20091107223013/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/scotland/6501759/Treasure-hunter-found-1m-haul-on-first-outing.html "Treasure hunter found £1m haul on first outing" The Telegraph]

[[Category:Ancient Celtic artmetalwork]]