East Cambridgeshire Bronze Age Gold Torc Acquisition

An exceptional example of a Middle Bronze Age four-flange twisted gold bar torc was discovered in East Cambridgeshire on the 26th September 2015. Weighing 732 grams, measuring 126.5 cm in length, it is one of the largest found in Britain, Ireland and the near Continent, and regarded as the best to be found in England in more than a century.

The find was made by a metal detectorist in a ploughed field in East Cambridgeshire and was reported to the local Finds Liaison Officer. It has been described as ‘astonishing’ by Neil Wilkin, Curator of Bronze Age Europe at the British Museum.

The torc is important as an example of prehistoric goldworking of the highest order, reflecting great skill and control of goldworking techniques. Its size marks it apart from other contemporary bar torcs; its weight and circumference infers that it was for ceremonial use. The torc has been dated to the Penard phase of the Middle Bronze Age, c1300-1100BC, but is distinctively different from other torcs of this period and type.