A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts , sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache . This would usually be with the intention of later recovery by the hoarder; hoarders sometimes died or were unable to return for other reasons (forgetfulness or physical displacement from its location) before retrieving the hoard, and these surviving hoards might then be uncovered much later by metal detector hobbyists, members of the public, and archaeologists .
31-529: The Broighter Gold or more correctly, the Broighter Hoard , is a hoard of gold artefacts from the Iron Age of the 1st century BC that were found in 1896 by Tom Nicholl and James Morrow on farmland near Limavady , Ireland . The hoard includes a 7-inch-long (18 cm) gold boat, a gold torc and bowl and some other jewellery. The National Museum of Ireland , who now hold the hoard, describe
62-489: A British style. One is complete, with a diameter of 18.6 cm, the other a semi-circular fragment. Despite unusual hook-in-loop fastenings and other features, these are probably imports from what is now south-eastern England. The Stirling torcs from Scotland include two twisted "ribbon" torcs. The hoard was sold by the farmer, J.L.Gibson, to a jeweller in Derry who sold it to a local antiquarian , Robert Day. He sold it to
93-624: A distinctive feature of post-Roman British and Irish art, often thought to be a speciality of Celtic areas. There are two chain necklaces, using loop-in-loop technique, with clasps. One is 39.6 cm long, with triple chains, the other with a single chain but of more complicated construction. The chain technique spread from the Middle East to the Roman world, where these were probably made; the clasps match Roman and Etruscan examples. There are also two torcs made from single twisted bars of gold,
124-445: A finished state. These were probably buried with the intention to be recovered at a later time. A merchant's hoard is a collection of various functional items which, it is conjectured, were buried by a traveling merchant for safety, with the intention of later retrieval. A personal hoard is a collection of personal objects buried for safety in times of unrest. A hoard of loot is a buried collection of spoils from raiding and
155-548: A goldsmith to later work out its structure. Part of the boat, a thwart, was found a few days later and sold by Morrow's sister to a jeweller in Derry. The hoard's gold shares metallurgical characteristics, despite the diverse styles of the pieces. Some appear to be imported, while others may be reworked or entirely remade. One possibility is that a group of pieces made in the Roman Rhineland reached Ireland, perhaps after
186-481: A period in Britain, where some pieces were remade, and the necklaces left as they were. The boat measures 7.25 inches (18.4 cm) by 3 inches (7.6 cm) and weighs 3 ounces (85 g). It had benches, rowlocks, two rows of nine oars and a paddle rudder for steering. It also included tools for grappling, three forks, a yardarm, and a spear. The tools are of much lighter design than the ship's hull and are shown in
217-783: A temple or church become the property of that institution, and may be used to its benefit. Snettisham Torc 52°52′55″N 0°30′31″E / 52.881977°N 0.508712°E / 52.881977; 0.508712 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. 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
248-399: A useful method of providing dates for artifacts through association as they can usually be assumed to be contemporary (or at least assembled during a decade or two), and therefore used in creating chronologies. Hoards can also be considered an indicator of the relative degree of unrest in ancient societies. Thus conditions in 5th and 6th century Britain spurred the burial of hoards, of which
279-500: Is more in keeping with the popular idea of " buried treasure ". Votive hoards are different from the above in that they are often taken to represent permanent abandonment, in the form of purposeful deposition of items, either all at once or over time for ritual purposes, without intent to recover them . Furthermore, votive hoards need not be "manufactured" goods, but can include organic amulets and animal remains. Votive hoards are often distinguished from more functional deposits by
310-549: The British Museum for £600. The museum had undisturbed ownership until the renowned Arthur Evans wrote a paper describing the find in 1897. The drawing of the torc design comes from this paper. The Royal Irish Academy disputed the British Museum's view that it was an ancient gift to the gods and launched a long running court case. The academy wanted the finds to be declared treasure trove , that is, buried with
341-595: The Northern Ireland British one-pound coins and the gold ship featured in a design on the last Irish commemorative one-pound coins. The Broighter Collar and Broighter Ship also featured on definitive postage stamps of Ireland from 1990 to 1995. The hoard was found near Lough Foyle in a field in the townland of Broighter ( Irish : Brú Íochtair , meaning 'lower fort') 2 km northwest of Limavady in County Londonderry . It
SECTION 10
#1732772172201372-728: 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. 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
403-535: The Snettisham Torc are known from Britain in this period. The design on the torc can be studied easily by imagining the hollow tube as straightened and flattened. This was done in the first study of the hoard by Arthur Evans and his drawing can be seen here. The design matches other Irish pieces, and may have been a remodelling of a plainer British or Rhineland torc (the Rhineland is one possible source of
434-440: The "T" and prevents it opening. The design has been applied in three ways, the most common is where the classical designs of generic plants has been revealed by beating back the surrounding gold. Other areas have additional pieces attached and the background has been incised in geometric curves to add to the decoration. There are no comparable La Tène style hollow torcs known from Ireland, although somewhat similar examples such as
465-559: The crown. The treasure was taken to Dublin and placed in the museum there. Although some have suggested that the gold should be transferred to nearer their find-spot in what is now Northern Ireland , the items remain in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin. The hoard is considered an important find. The National Museum of Ireland believes that the collar is the "finest example of Irish La Tène goldworking". The eclecticism of
496-409: The find was both to the sea and to reclaimed land where the railway then travelled. The British Museum's position was set out by Evans who had described the find as votive in his 1897 paper – ironically something the academy's successor, the National Museum of Ireland, now consider likely, saying on their website: "The objects may have been buried as an offering to a Celtic god, presumably during
527-457: The first Century BC". The dispute was finally settled by a court in London in 1903 in an important case where the government was represented by Sir Edward Carson , who was a Unionist and Solicitor-General . A pivotal issue in the case was that the finds were all closely packed which was indicative of burial. It was held that the treasure was not a religious offering and was therefore forfeit to
558-474: The gold). An unusual gold bowl or model cauldron which was made from a single sheet of gold was discovered. Its purpose is unclear but it was probably a model of a large cauldron, which was an important object in the feasting culture of Iron Age Europe. It had four suspension loops on the outside, not all surviving. It is 3.5 inches (8.9 cm) in diameter and is about 2 inches (5.1 cm) deep. It weighs over 1 ounce (28 g). Hanging bowls were later to be
589-520: The illustration. The boat has led some archaeologists to suggest that the hoard was a votive deposit, perhaps to the Celtic sea god Manannán mac Lir . Other scholars dispute this identification, however; noting that all extant stories in which Manannán appears are later medieval compositions and there is no indication that the Irish of the 1st century BC would have worshipped him. The other remarkable item
620-475: The intention of recovery. Day, the antiquarian, was so aggrieved to have his sale disputed that he withdrew a gift he was going to make to the Irish Academy. It was argued that the model of the boat and the "sea-horse image" on the torc when combined with the finding of nearby shells showed that the treasure had been placed in water deliberately as an offering to ancient gods. The map above shows how close
651-411: The items in a sink. At that time they did not realise they were made from gold. The hoard was eventually sold to the British Museum for six hundred pounds. It consisted of a miniature ship, complete with fittings and oars; two necklets, a bowl and a torc (or hollow collar). The find was described as a lump of mud when initially shown. Moreover, the boat had been so badly damaged by the plough that it took
SECTION 20
#1732772172201682-927: The most famous are the Hoxne Hoard , Suffolk; the Mildenhall Treasure , the Fishpool Hoard , Nottinghamshire, the Water Newton hoard, Cambridgeshire, and the Cuerdale Hoard , Lancashire, all preserved in the British Museum . Prudence Harper of the Metropolitan Museum of Art voiced some practical reservations about hoards at the time of the Soviet exhibition of Scythian gold in New York City in 1975. Writing of
713-513: The most famous item from the hoard is the Great Torc from Snettisham , which is now held by the British Museum . Though the origins are unknown, it is of a high enough quality to have been royal treasure of the Iceni . 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
744-422: The nature of the goods themselves (from animal bones to diminutive artifacts), the places buried (being often associated with watery places, burial mounds and boundaries), and the treatment of the deposit (careful or haphazard placement and whether ritually destroyed/broken). Valuables dedicated to the use of a deity (and thus classifiable as "votive") were not always permanently abandoned. Valuable objects given to
775-523: The original group. Such "dealer's hoards" can be highly misleading, but better understanding of archaeology amongst collectors, museums and the general public is gradually making them less common and more easily identified. Hoards may be of precious metals , coinage , tools or less commonly, pottery or glass vessels. There are various classifications depending on the nature of the hoard: A founder's hoard contains broken or unfit metal objects, ingots , casting waste, and often complete objects, in
806-637: The so-called "Maikop treasure" (acquired from three separate sources by three museums early in the twentieth century, the Berliner Museen , the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology , and the Metropolitan Museum, New York), Harper warned: By the time "hoards" or "treasures" reach museums from the antiquities market, it often happens that miscellaneous objects varying in date and style have become attached to
837-529: The styles is comparable to that of the objects in the Stirling Hoard from Scotland, probably from a slightly earlier period. The torc was incorporated into a 1996 design for a British pound by Norman Sillman and the boat was used as a basis for the design for the last pound coin ever issued by the Irish Mint . This coin was issued to celebrate the millennium in 2000. Hoard Hoards provide
868-517: The torc as the "finest example of Irish La Tène goldworking". Replicas of the collection are kept at the Ulster Museum in Belfast . A somewhat puzzling aspect of the hoard is that scientific analysis suggests the same source for the gold in all the pieces, but they show a great diversity in style, from Celtic to Roman. A design from the hoard has been used as an image on the 1996 issue of
899-529: The torcs into fragments. 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. 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
930-476: Was discovered by Thomas Nicholl and James Morrow while working as ploughmen for Joseph L. Gibson in February 1896. They found the hoard whilst double ploughing. That means that one plough would follow the other to gain extra depth. It was estimated that the finds were buried 14 inches (36 cm) deep and were in close proximity to each other. The find was taken to the farm where Maggie (later Mrs Nicholl) washed
961-424: Was the torc or collar which is 7.5 inches (19 cm) in diameter with buffer terminals, using a mortice and tenon fastening. The hollow tube that made up the ring is 1.125 inches (2.86 cm) in diameter. The hinge is no longer there but it would have been required to put on the collar. The fastening consists of a "T" piece which fits into a slot as the torc is closed. A section can then be turned which captures