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In 2019, a metal-detectorist made a startling discovery while exploring near the edge of a stream near Pulborough in West Sussex: two curved pieces of a golden torc dating to the Iron Age. After being reported to the local Finds Liaison Officer and examined by the British Museum, the Pulborough torc (as it is now known) was subsequently declared to be Treasure under the Treasure Act 1996. Now, five years after the artefact’s discovery, newly published analysis by the British Museum has revealed interesting details about the torc’s metal composition and manufacturing processes.
S Adams
Torcs represent the majority of British and Irish finds made of gold and gold-alloy that fall within the period between the 5th century BC and the introduction of gold coinage in the later part of the 2nd century BC. Nonetheless, they are rare objects, sometimes appearing as standalone finds, as in the case of the Pulborough example, or in hoards, such as those found at Snettisham in Norfolk (see CA 126 and CA 135).
What is a torc? The term encompasses a huge variation of types. Examples can be either annular (having the shape of a complete ring) or penannular (a ring with a break) in form, may be large or small, and come in a variety of designs from a range of manufacturing techniques. The Pulborough example represents one half of a symmetrical penannular torc, with a surviving rounded terminal. It is decorated in filigree, made from twisted wire in a technique dating back to at least the 2nd millennium BC but which has continued to be used into the 2nd millennium AD. The technique of drawn wire was only introduced after the Roman period. Filigree ornament is visible on the smaller of the two pieces, and on the surviving terminal at the end of the larger piece.
While the Pulborough torc survives in fragmentary form, it is possible to estimate the dimensions of the complete object by considering the decorative section of the smaller piece as its mid-point (since this is where the ornamentation usually occurs on similar examples) and extrapolating the missing portion from this. The researchers believe the full torc would have had a diameter of at least 135mm, with variation depending on the size of the gap between the two terminals. Its complete weight is estimated as 115g, which perhaps seems surprisingly light for a metal object of this size. However, the torc’s tubular form is hollow, having been shaped using a thin, curved mandrel, while a layer of sheet gold measuring just 0.18-0.22mm thick was hammered around it; there is no indication of a separate organic or metal core to support or fill the tube (as has been found in some examples, such as those from Snettisham).
Analysis of the torc’s metallic makeup has taken place on two occasions since its discovery. Using an Artax X-ray fluorescence (XRF) instrument in 2020 as part of the Treasure process, researchers from the British Museum analysed the metal composition at various locations on the surface of the metal. It was found that the torc was made of 61-63% gold and 35-37% silver, with the remaining percentage comprising copper. This is a lower than average proportion of gold compared to the few Iron Age examples from across Europe that have been analysed, which tend to contain upwards of 70% gold, but it is not without comparison.
A second study in 2021 confirmed the earlier results, after taking readings from three representative points on the larger piece of the torc (namely, the exterior of the neck-ring, the exterior of the terminal’s flared side, and the wire decoration on the edge of the terminal).
While the torc looks simple in construction, research has revealed the complexities of its manufacture, which incorporated sheet-working, forging, casting, and soldering. The terminal provided particularly interesting insights into how the object was manufactured: a small, apparently intentional hole in the centre of the disc which forms the flat face of the terminal shows no marks from drilling, piercing, or other tooling techniques. This has led researchers to suggest that it was made using a pierced wax disc that was coated in clay in order to form a casting mould for the piece.
Analysis under the microscope revealed evidence, too, of use-wear on the object, which was particularly evident in the wire decoration on the neck-ring and terminal, raised areas that were especially vulnerable to daily abrasion against clothing or skin. It was also possible to suggest from the pattern of wear which way up the torc was worn, since the most-worn area would have been the side resting against the wearer’s body.
By comparing the torc’s metal composition, design, and manufacturing techniques to examples from across Europe, the researchers have been able to date it to the 4th to early 3rd century BC, though it is not possible to be more precise at this stage. However, by revealing the artefact’s distinctive characteristics, as well as traces of damage and wear, the research has helped to shed light on the object’s story from its manufacture and use to its rediscovery more than 1,500 years later. The full paper, published in Internet Archaeology, can be read, open access, at https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.67.16.
The Sussex Archaeological Society acquired the torc for its collection in 2023 after successfully securing funding through the Art Fund, the Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant Fund, the Headley Museums Archaeological Acquisition Fund, and an online public appeal. It is anticipated that the torc will go on display in spring 2025; you can find out more about viewing it, in due course, at http://www.sussexpast.co.uk.
Text: Rebecca Preedy / Image: The British Museum
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