Celtic Or Viking Neck Torc Bronze Age 1st Millennium

Description

Heading: Celtic neck torc or Viking neck torc

Material: Bronze (copper alloy)

Period: Bronze to Iron-age

Date: 1st millennium

Origin: Unknown (probably Britain or Europe) but from an old UK collection

Condition: Fine with nice dark patina. but slight corrosion to one area.

Description: Relatively rare bronze torc composed of round-sectioned band with part decorative twisting to the rear and coiled terminals forming loops.

Size and Weight: 12.5cm wide and 360mm in length. 31g 

Features and Provenance: The neck torc (or torque) was worn by the Celts. Romans and Vikings and was a symbol of social station or rank in the clan. The metals and types were wide ranging. from gold and silver. with elaborate multi stranded twists worn by leaders. to simple single strands of bronze or iron for the lower ranking person or warrior. The twisted type required advanced metalworking skills and the size of our example would indicate it would have been worn by a woman.

Condition Summary. This varies with the age of the artefact and there are grades between

Extremely Fine (EF). Very slight traces of wear. all parts of pattern etc present. visible and clear

Very Fine (VF). Some signs of wear on the higher parts of the relief. all parts of pattern etc present. but may be worn

Fine (F). Wear on the artefact and parts of item and pattern etc may be missing or not visible