Snettisham Hoard

52°52′55″N 0°30′31″E / 52.881977°N 0.508712°E / 52.881977; 0.508712

Snettisham Hoard
The Hoard in the British Museum
Material	Gold
Created	about 70 BC
Discovered	Snettisham in 1948–73
Present location	British Museum Norwich Castle

The Snettisham Hoard or Snettisham Treasure is a series of discoveries of Iron Age precious metal, found in the Snettisham area of the English county of Norfolk between 1948 and 1973.

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Iron age hoard

The hoard consists of metal, jet and over 150 gold/silver/copper alloy torc fragments, over 70 of which form complete torcs, dating from about BC 70. The fairly precise dating comes from French coins discovered with torcs. Probably the most famous item from the hoard is the Great Torc from Snettisham, which is now held by the British Museum.^[1] Though the origins are unknown, it is of a high enough quality to have been royal treasure of the Iceni.^[2]

Recent electron microscopy research by the British Museum reveal the wear patterns in the torcs, the chemical composition of the metal, and the cut marks which reduced many of the torcs into fragments.^[3] One hypothesis suggests the deliberate destruction of valuable items was a form of votive offering.

The finds are deposited in Norwich Castle Museum and the British Museum.^[4] The hoard was ranked as number 4 in the list of British archaeological finds selected by experts at the British Museum for the 2003 BBC Television documentary, Our Top Ten Treasures, presented by Adam Hart-Davis.

Similar specimens are the Sedgeford Torc, found in 1965, and the Newark Torc, found in 2005, as well as the six torcs from the Ipswich Hoard found in 1968-9.^[5]

Romano-British hoard

In 1985 there was also a find of Romano-British jewellery and raw materials buried in a clay pot in AD 155, the Snettisham Jeweller's Hoard. Though it has no direct connection with the nearby Iron Age finds, it may be evidence of a long tradition of gold- and silver-working in the area.^[6]^[7]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Snettisham Hoard.

^ "British MuseumHighlighs". Archived from the original on 27 October 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
^ "The Snettisham Treasure". Current Archaeology. Archived from the original on 9 May 2006. Retrieved 6 June 2006.
^ Angelo Crist (22 October 2017), Time Team Special 45 (2011) – Boudica's Lost Tribe, archived from the original on 15 December 2021, retrieved 10 April 2019
^ "British Museum highlights: Gold Torc from the Snettisham hoard L". Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
^ Wainwright, Martin (18 February 2005). "Iron age necklace discovered". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 November 2008.
^ The Snettisham Roman Jeweller's Hoard by Catherine Johns (British Museum Press, 1997)
^ "Jeweller's hoard from Snettisham". The British Museum. Archived from the original on 13 April 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2010.