TORC

An incomplete segment from a cast copper-alloy beaded torc, dating from the late Iron Age to early Roman period. The fragment consists of five co-joined beads with narrow waisted sections separating them. The fragment appears broken at one end at the point of one of these waisted sections whereas the other end is an original terminus consisting of a slightly enlarged bead with a hollowed conical opening in the end.

All of the beads are sub-cylindircal, 'barrel-shaped', in form with sub-oval sections. The enlarged bead measures 12.4mm long with a maximum diameter of 12.5mm whereas the remaining four smaller beads measure 12.4-11.4mm long with a diameter of 10.4-11.4mm. The conical opening in the enlarged bead measures 5.2mm diameter and is approximately 9mm deep. The waisted sections have a diameter of 7.1-9.4mm.

Each bead carries the same moulded design which consists of a central raised circumferential ridge, decorated with closely spaced incised transverse grooves (this same design also appears around each of the waisted sections). In the case of the beads this ridge is flanked to either side by a ring of four raised triangles with the apexes pointing away from the central ridge. Each edge of the bead then has a ring of four raised moulded semi-circles which sit between the gaps of these triangles. The overall design of each bead is reminiscent of the stylized acanthus leaf decoration found on the necks of Roman Trumpet brooches, typically dated AD c.75-175, & therefore possibly contemporaneous with the latter period given for these beaded torcs. The majority of beaded torcs are typically dated c.100 BC to AD 200.

The fragment has a well-developed dark brown-green patina, although the surface is pitted and in parts green where there has been loss of material. The break at one end of the torc does not appear to be recent.

Record WMID-AB7FF1 , of a similar find, notes that in "Celtic Art in Roman Britain", Hunter, 2008, p133 comments that finds of beaded torcs with associations confirm the first-second century AD date suggested by McGregor in: "Early Celtic Art in North Britain", 1976.

Record SWYOR-1740A7, also of a similar find, has a note on their hinge mechanism and links to other examples recorded elsewhere on the database.