Gifts for the golden gods: Iron Age hoards of torques and coins

Gifts for the golden gods: Iron Age hoards of torques and coins

Andrew Fitzpatrick

Introduction

Hoards that contain both Iron Age torques or neckrings and coins have been known since the discovery of a hoard in Padua in AD 1531. These hoards are found across central and western Europe and have long attracted attention, the recurrent association of torques and coins in them being recognised as deliberate. The finders of many hoards have viewed them as bullion, selling the pieces intact or having them melted down. Early art historians, archaeologists and numismatists, have seen them as representing many things: treasures of ancient art; testimonies to the historically attested migrations of Celtic peoples; keys to unlock the chronology of Celtic coinage; and offerings to the gods.

There is some truth in all of these views, much of which is based on the literary sources. The very name ‘torque’ comes from the Latin, meaning ‘twisted bar.’ In the fourth century BC, the Roman noble T. Manlius Imperius took the cognomen Torquatus after taking a neckring from a Gaul whom he overcame in single combat.1

The literary evidence for torques has been well reviewed by Furger-Gunti.2 The sources mention Celts and Gauls wearing torques and armbands in battle, sometimes when the warriors were otherwise naked. Torques are described as being offered as gifts both to the gods and to mortals, mentioned as being taken as booty, and as being offered as tribute on the Capitol by Romans.

The literary sources appear to be endorsed by various kinds of representations. The image of ‘the dying Gaul’ – naked apart from a torque, and best known today in the figure in the Capitoline Museum in Rome which originally graced a monument in Pergamon – became an icon in antiquity for Gauls and Celts as both barbarian and other, and it was reproduced in many different media.3 Iron Age sculptures, wooden figurines, and coins all show figures in human form, maybe gods, maybe heroes, druids or other mortals, who are wearing torques.4

1 Liv. 7.10.11. 2 A. Furger-Gunti, Der «Goldfund von Saint-Louis» bei Basel und ähnliche keltische Schatzfunde.

Zeitschr. Schweizer. Arch. u. Kunstgesch. 39, 1982, 1-47. 3 P. Bieńkowski, Les celtes dans les arts mineurs Gréco-romains (Krakow 1928); for a recent

discussion of the statue and its provenance, see M. Mattei, The dying Gaul. In: V. Kruta/O.-H. Frey/B. Raftery/M. Szabo (eds.), The Celts (London 1991) 70-71; and more generally, H.-U. Cain/S. Rieckhoff (eds.), Fromm – fremd – barbarisch. Die Religionen der Kelten (Mainz 2002) 48-87.

4 N. Venclová, Mšecké Žehrovice in Bohemia. Archaeological background to a celtic hero (Sceaux 1998); idem, The venerable Bede, druidic tonsure and archaeology. Antiquity 76, 2002, 458-471; Y. Menez, Les sculptures gauloises de Paule (Côtes-d’Armor). Gallia 56, 1999, 357-414; see also Furger-Gunti (note 2).

158 Andrew Fitzpatrick

Fig. 1 : Distribution of hoards of Iron Age torques and coins.

Most of the coins that are found in these hoards are of gold. Few today would see them as a form of universal money rather than having been, amongst other things, a means of payment, for storing wealth, a standard of value and a medium of exchange. Their role in the payment of mercenaries has been emphasised and their use in the context of relations of dependence between patrons and their migrant clients could have involved exchanges, gifts, tribute and inducements. Coins could also have been used to seal long distance alliances.5

5 D.F. Allen, Wealth, money and coinage in a Celtic society. In: J.V.S. Megaw (ed.), To illustrate

the monuments (London 1986) 200-208; D. Nash, Coinage in the Celtic world (London 1987); C. Haselgrove, Iron Age coinage in south-east England: the archaeological context. BAR 174 (Oxford 1987) 13-27; A.P. Fitzpatrick, The roles of Celtic coinage in south-east England. In: M. Mays (ed.), Celtic coinage: Britain and beyond. BAR 222 (Oxford 1992) 1-32; Nick this volume.

Gifts for the golden gods 159

The nature of the evidence

The archaeological finds have, in modern times, been approached by different disciplines and from varying perspectives, so it is as well to start by reviewing the nature and quality of evidence available. Around 25 hoards, mostly from central and western Europe, can be seen to contain torques and coins, or to be closely linked to this pattern of deposition. Further details of the relevant finds may be found in the Appendix, together with bibliographic details; their location is shown in Figure 1.

It should be recognised at the outset that there is considerable diversity within this group, both in terms of the types of torque and coins represented, but also in the contexts in which they are found and the ways in which the objects have been treated. An important feature shared by many finds, and considered in detail by A. Furger-Gunti in his fundamental contribution on the subject is the fact that many of the hoards contain coins that are not local to the area.6 Many of those coins either have plain obverses, or bear symbols that can be interpreted as being religious in nature. Furger-Gunti interpreted these finds, his hoards of Saint-Louis/Basel type (Fig. 2), as representing votive offerings. He laid particular emphasis on the possibility that the wooden figures or idols from Geneva and Villeneuve in Switzerland may have been adorned with torques, an inference drawn from the discovery at the sanctuary of Libenice (Czech Republic) of bronze torques next to postholes that are supposed to have supported wooden figures and equivalent in size to one of the ‘Saint-Louis’ torques (Fig. 2,2).7 The significance of these figures or idols, perhaps as protective gods, seems to be supported by the recent find of another wooden figure and an associated votive deposit from Yverdon les Bains, also in Switzerland.8 These hoards of Saint-Louis/Basel type are, however, only one part of a continuum of hoarding. There are many more hoards of just coins, and a much smaller number of hoards of torques.

As the concept of a ‘hoard’ has been fundamental to the interpretation of these finds, it is as well to remember that the concept is qualitative as much as quantitative. For example, one object may be buried or offered to the gods with the same intent as a hoard of a hundred objects. The reasons for the accumulation and the deposition of hoards have often been seen as synonymous. So a number of hoards of torques and coins have, for example, been categorised as savings hoards, flight (or refugee) hoards, hoards of booty or metalsmith’s hoards. These interpretations presume that there was intent to recover the hoard. However, the intentions behind the accumulation of objects and their deposition or sacrifice to the gods need not be the same.

Some hoards have been interpreted as votive in nature and it has been assumed that there was no intent to recover them. However, where objects are offered to the

6 Furger-Gunti (note 2). 7 A. Rybová/B. Soudsky, Libenice: sanctuaire celtique en Bohême centrale (Prague 1962). 8 C. Brunetti, Statue et mandibules, un dépôt votif de l’âge du fer à Yverdon les Bains? Arch.

Schweiz 24/4, 2001, 24-33.


gods, their burial or concealment away from the sight or hand of men in a manner that may be interpreted archaeologically as a hoard, is not the only way of making such an offering. In particular, finds from watery contexts such as lakes or rivers that may have been offered to the gods together in a single act, may appear archaeologically as a scattered group or even as individual finds. Equally, what were once discrete offerings can appear archaeologically as a single, apparently undifferentiated deposit.

If finds categorised archaeologically as hoards may embody different concepts, hoards of Iron Age torques and coins are drawn from two different traditions of hoarding: of torques, and of coins. Whilst hoards of coin are known from many different times and in the case of those of Iron Age date have been relatively well studied, with the association of coins with torques also the subject of a number of studies, the hoarding of Iron Age torques has attracted comparatively little attention in its own right. Similarly, whilst these hoards are often thought of as being of gold and occurring in western and central Europe, it should be recognised that hoards with objects of silver – or sometimes a mixture of gold and silver coins – also occur in central and eastern Europe, which reflects the coinage normally in circulation in those regions. Ingots occur alongside torques in a number of hoards, and in one case the hoard appeared to contain only coins and ingots. These hoards are found in a range of types of contexts.

Despite this variability in composition and context, there has been a tendency to interpret the finds with coins and torques in one way. The firm favourite among earlier views was that the hoards constituted evidence of migrations, epitomised by R. Forrer’s comments on the celebrated find from Tayac (Appendix, no. 15),

‘Die “Kriegskasse” eines wandernden Stammes, in welcher die Loskauf-zahlungen zusammenflossen, welche bedrängte Städte beim Durchzuge des Stammes bezahlten, um vor Plünderung und Niederbrennung verschont zu bleiben.’9 In some cases, good reason may be adduced. A number of hoards in France,

Belgium, north-west Germany and northern Italy contain coins that were issued in central Europe, either ‘mussel’ types ascribed to the Boii, or Regenbogen-schüsselchen (Fig. 2, bottom right). Furger-Gunti suggests that these particular coins were selected on account of their symbolism, but this pattern is also seen in hoards comprised solely of coins and there are many die links between the coins in these hoards.10 Several of the hoards of coins, and also of torques and coins, from 9 R. Forrer, Keltische Numismatik der Rhein und Donaulande (Strasbourg 1908) 329. 10 Furger-Gunti (note 2). For die linking between hoards, see B. Zieghaus, Der Münzfund von Groβ-

bissendorf. Eine numismatisch-historische Untersuchung zu den spätkeltischen Goldprägungen in Südbayern. Ausstellungskat. Prähist. Staatsslg. München 27 (Munich 1995); Nick this volume, Tab. 5.

Fig. 2: Gold objects from the Saint-Louis/Kegelriss hoard. 1-2 torques, 3-4 finger rings, 5 armring (scale 1:4). The circles represent the number of coins in the hoard (after Furger-Gunti note 2). Bottom right: coins numbers 34 and 56 (scale 1:1).


Vercellese, the area to the west of Vercelli (ancient Vercellae) in northern Italy, have been suggested to be associated with the defeat of the migrating Cimbri there in 101 BC, and a similar interpretation has been advanced for the Siena Casacce hoard which contained both (Appendix, no. 24). It should be noted, however, that many of the relevant coins are simply recorded as certainly or possibly Regenbogenschüsselchen, coins that were issued from the third century BC onwards.

In other cases this interpretation is less persuasive, for example, the suggestion that the concentration of torques and coin hoards in eastern England, and indeed the geographically isolated hoard from Netherurd in southern Scotland (Appendix, no. 3), should be associated with the invasions of Julius Caesar in 55 and 54 BC, or that the Niederzier hoard in north-west Germany (Appendix, no. 17) should be dated to around 53 BC when Caesar attacked the Eburones. The Tayac hoard from south-western France is another to have been associated with the Cimbri,11 but it is probably significantly earlier in date.12

In view of the complexity of the data as H.-E. Joachim has noted,13 no single explanation should be anticipated. A consideration of the quality of the evidence emphasises this.

The quality of the evidence

It has to be recognised that the quality of the evidence is – at best – variable, and the collective story of many of the finds has an almost comical character. Shortly after their discovery many finds were melted down or sold, either in part or in their entirety (Netherurd, Courcoury, Saint-Gérand-de-Vaux, Serviès-en-Val, Podmokly, Vel’ký Bysterc, San Germano Vercellese, and Siena Casacce). Some hoards were dispersed, sometimes across Europe (Saint-Louis/Kegelriss, Tayac) and on occasion as far as America (Frasnes-lez-Buissenal) or Australia (Le Câtillon).

One consequence of this diaspora is that objects have been lost and, in other cases, the reliability of the provenance of finds ascribed to hoards is suspect. One find was stolen (La Tène); others have gone missing (Formigliana; Appendix, no. 21). Nothing is known of what became of the hoard found in Padua in 1531 (Appendix, no. 22) and detailed information on many finds both old (e.g. the three hoards from Vercellese) and new (e.g. Beaugeois vicinity; Appendix, no. 10) is often lacking. One hoard, found in 1883, has been attributed to three places; first ‘Alsace’, then Saint-Louis (in Haut-Rhin, just across the border from Basel), and most recently (and plausibly) near Kegelriss, on the German side of the Rhine (Appendix, no. 16).

11 See for instance: H.-J. Kellner, Der Fund von Tayac, ein Zeugnis der Cimberzuges? Jahrb. Num.

u. Geldgesch. 20, 1970, 13-47; and D. Nash, Settlement and coinage in Central Gaul c. 200-50 BC. BAR Suppl. Ser. 39 (Oxford 1978).

12 C. Haselgrove, The development of Iron Age coinage in Belgic Gaul. Num. Chronicle 159, 1999, 111-168 esp. 126-127.

13 J. Göbel/A. Hartmann/H.-E. Joachim/V. Zedelius, Der spätkeltische Goldschatz von Niederzier. Bonner Jahrb. 191, 1991, 27-83 esp. 44.


Some hoards comprise separate lots or parcels, and some of these have been found at different dates. Parts of what are thought to have been the same hoard were found at Courcoury in 1802 and 1822 (Appendix, no. 11). The first part of the Siena Casacce hoard was found in 1872, the rest following work undertaken in 1875. The individual elements of the Fraire-2 hoard were found between 1981 and 1984 (Appendix, no. 6). Separate hoards have also been mixed together in the immediate aftermath of discovery (at Essendon; and Snettisham hoards B and C; Appendix, nos. 2 and 4); conversely, the Le Câtillon hoard was originally reported as having been found in parcels, but seems in fact to have been a single closed group (Appendix, no. 1).

Finds about which there is little doubt concerning their content and provenance are very much the exception. They include Snettisham A, D-H, K-N, Beringen, Pommeroeul, Ribemont-sur-Ancre, Niederzier and La Tène. Of these finds, Pommeroeul and La Tène (Appendix, nos. 9 and 18) were deposited in watery contexts making the exact associations uncertain. The latter stricture must also apply to the hoard excavated in 1999 at Ribemont-sur-Ancre (Appendix, no. 12) which was found amongst the dismembered and mutilated remains of men and weapons.14 Of all the finds listed in the Appendix, only the Snettisham G-H and K-N hoards, and those from Niederzier and Ribemont-sur-Ancre, have been found in controlled archaeological excavations.

Iron Age torques

A number of gold neckrings or collars are known from well furnished burials of late Hallstatt date, such as Hochdorf (Baden-Württemberg),15 and from representations on sculptures that surmounted some burial mounds in the same region, as at Hirschlanden.16 Despite being well known, these neckrings were rare and it is clear that they were symbols of status.

In the early and middle La Tène periods, torques of precious metal remain both prominent – and rare – in ‘Celtic’ Europe. Examples in copper alloy are however fairly widely distributed and sometimes formed part of the costumes by which categories of age and sex were displayed.17 There is considerable variation in the detail of these finds in time and place, but the two main types that may be distinguished are: (i) simple rings with terminals that protrude at right angles which are known as buffer terminals (so-called after the buffers on railway tracks and railway vehicles); and (ii) rings with flatter ‘discs’ in the same plane which are

14 Two hemi-staters of similar type had already been found in this deposit, ten metres apart from one

another; see Haselgrove (note 12) 124-125 n. 62; and L.-P. Delestrée, Les monnaies gauloises de Ribemont-sure-Ancre. Problématique et chronologie. Gallia 56, 1999, 254-270.

15 J. Biel, Der Keltenfürst von Hochdorf (Stuttgart 1985). For a recent listing of torques and other objects of gold from Iron Age Europe, see S. Lewuillon, En attendant la monnaie. Torques d’or en Gaule. In: B. Cauuet (ed.), L’or dans l’antiquité. Aquitania Suppl. 9 (Toulouse 1999) 357-425.

16 W. Kimmig, Eisenzeitliche Grabstelen in Mitteleurope. Versuch eines Überblicks. Fundber. Baden Württemberg 12, 1987, 251-297.

17 F. Müller, Die frühlatènezeitlichen Scheibenhalsringe. Röm.-Germ. Forsch. 46 (Mainz 1989).


known as Scheibenhalsringe (or disc neckrings).18 Golden torques with buffer terminals are known; but golden Scheibenhalsringe are not. Other objects that were symbols of status were also decorated with gold, such as the iron helmet from Agris (Charente),19 as were some cult objects, for example the miniature tree with gold leaves from Manching (Bavaria).20

In the early La Tène period, torques continued to be placed in the well furnished graves of both females, as at Reinheim (Saarland),21 and males, as at the Glauberg (Hessen), where the barrow was surmounted by a stone sculpture of the dead man wearing the torque that was buried with him.22 These pieces are some of the most beautiful works of ‘Celtic art,’ intricately and exquisitely crafted in relief and openwork, and displaying the complex symbolism of a visual language that archaeologists have yet to learn how to read or to speak fluently.23 As a whole, the gold torques from burials of mid La Tène date are in some ways less spectacular but they also include some very finely worked pieces, the most famous of which are from the burial of the Waldalgesheim ‘princess’ in Rheinland-Pfalz.24 Also placed in this grave were three smaller pieces of gold jewellery. Two are the same shape as the torque and are elaborately decorated, but were armlets or anklets; the third piece is a closed, undecorated, and twisted ring. Less well known are objects decorated in a high relief ‘plastic’ style, such as the torques from Fenouillet (Haute-Garonne), and concentrated in south-western France.25 The terminals of many of these torques have locking mechanisms that allowed them to be opened and closed.

In late La Tène, the sophisticated decoration of early and middle La Tène material culture is generally superseded by simplicity in decoration. Most torques of this date have plain rings, either solid or hollow, with buffer terminals.26 Sometimes the ring itself may be made of strands of metal twisted together, as at Snettisham E and Tayac.27 Some torques were made of wafer-thin sheet metal,

18 Ibid. 19 C. Eluère/J. Gomez de Soto/A. Duval, Un chef-d’oeuvre de l’orfèvrerie celtique: le casque d’Agris

(Charente). Bull. Soc. Préhist. Française 84, 1987, 8-22. 20 F. Maier, Das Kultbäumchen von Manching. Ein Zeugnis hellenistischer und keltischer

Goldschmiedekunst aus dem 3. Jahrhundert v. Chr. Germania 68, 1990, 129-165. 21 J. Kellner, Das keltische Fürstengrab von Rheinheim I (Mainz 1965). 22 O.H. Frey/F.-R. Hermann, Ein frühkeltischer Fürstengrabhügel am Glauberg im Wetteraukreis,

Hessen. Germania 75, 1997, 459-522. 23 Frey/Hermann (note 22); M.A. Guggisberg, Der Goldschatz von Erstfeld. Ein keltischer

Bilderzyklus zwischen Europa und der Mittelmeerwelt (Basel 2000). 24 H.-E. Joachim, Waldalgesheim. Das Grab einer keltischen Fürstin. Kat. Rheinisches

Landesmuseum Bonn 3 (Bonn 1995). 25 A. Duval/C. Eleuère, Le torque gaulois en or de Civray-de-Touraine (Indre-et-Loire). Rev. Louvre

et Musées de France 1987, 256-267. 26 C. Eluère, Goldringe mit Eisenkern der jüngeren Latènezeit. Fundber. Baden-Württemberg 12,

1987, 241-250; F. Fischer, Archäologie und Geschichte, Konkret. In: Der Trichtinger Ring und seine Probleme. Kolloquium anlässich des 70. Geburtstages von Professor Dr h.c. Kurt Bittel (Heidenheim 1978) 9-37.

27 As previous commentators have noted, the Tayac torque bears a striking resemblance to the one worn by ‘the dying Gaul’ from the Pergamon monument, suggesting that this type of torque was already in existence in the middle La Tène period, e.g. Forrer (note 9) 319; and R. Boudet, L’âge


frequently formed around cores made of beeswax or some other organic material, and which were given both strength and suppleness for the locking mechanism by a core made of iron. The terminals are also made of sheet metal and they echo the shape of buffer terminals of solid metal.

A small number of these torques are adorned with repoussé decoration, either on the rings near to the terminal (Frasnes-lez-Buissenal and Mailly-le-Camp) or in dorsal panels that cover joins at the rear of the ring (Snettisham A, torque 1; Frasnes-lez-Buissenal), or in the case of the Broighter (Co. Derry) torque, all over the ring. Some of these torques also incorporate filigree decoration at the terminals (Broighter, La Tène, Mailly-le-Camp). These torques were not however selected for deposition in graves. Instead, their association with precious metal coins, the representation of torques on idols, and the testimony of the literary sources – which repeatedly mention them in association with male warriors – all suggest that torques of gold were now objects with male and/or divine associations.

Hoards of torques

Although torques are best known from early and middle La Tène burials, hoards of them do occasionally occur. The most famous is from Erstfeld in Switzerland. This dates to the fourth century BC, perhaps late within it, and like the Waldalgesheim burial includes both torques and armlets.28

A slightly later series of elaborately decorated middle La Tène torques of quite different styles is known from south-western France.29 These come from a range of contexts, including the hoard from Fenouillet that contained six torques, and finds of single torques from Lasgraisses (Tarn) and from a burial at Montans (Tarn). Related pieces are known to the north, at Civray-de-Touraine (Indre-et-Loire), but also from Gajic (Serbia and Montenegro), emphasising the wide-ranging connections across continental Europe at this time30. Hoards of torques that have been thought to be of late La Tène date are best known from eastern England, exemplified by the discoveries from Ipswich, Suffolk,31 and Snettisham. Thus, whilst not very numerous, these finds do demonstrate that torques were collected together and deposited in hoards from at least the fourth century BC.32

Although the majority of hoards containing both gold torques and coins are of late La Tène date, a few are undoubtedly earlier. The Ribemont-sur-Ancre hoard contained hemistaters; and the Saint-Gérand-de-Vaux hoard, Phillipus imitations

du fer récent dans la partie méridionale de l’estuaire Girondin (du Ve au Ier siècle avant notre ère). Archéologies 2 (Périgueux 1987) 158.

28 R. Wyss, Der Schatzfund von Erstfeld. Frühkeltischer Goldschmuck aus den Zentralalpen. Zurich Arch. Forsch. (Zurich 1974); F. Müller, Der Massenfund von der Tiefenau bei Bern: zur Deutung latènezeitlicher Sammelfunde mit Waffen (Basel 1990); M.A. Guggisberg. Drei ‘Goldbarren’ im Schatz von Erstfeld. Jahrb. SGUF 80, 1997, 131-146; idem (note 23).

29 Duval/Eleuère (note 25). 30 C. Eluère, Celtic gold torcs. Gold Bull. 20, 1987, 22-37. 31 E. Owles, The Ipswich gold torcs. Antiquity 43, 1969, 208-212. 32 What seem to be single finds also occasionally occur, as at Mailly-le-Camp; R. Joffroy, Le torque

de Mailly-le-Camp (Aube). Monuments et Mémoires Fondation Eugène Piot 56, 1969, 45-59.


(Appendix, nos. 12 and 13). The first find is certainly of third century BC date33 and probably the earliest of the hoards mixing torques and coins. The finds from the second hoard are long since lost, but the nineteenth century sketch of the torque is consistent with a middle La Tène date.

The possibility that other finds are of this date should not be excluded. In particular, the records of the hoards from northern Italy that are traditionally associated with the Cimbri and Teutones is poor, all being known from nineteenth century or earlier records. Equally, the relative chronology that the vital associations of die-linked coins provide should not be underestimated.34

Deposition in watery contexts may be as early. On the basis of the other finds from La Tène, the half torque from the site may be La Tène C1 in date. This find shares a similar closing technique to what may be the latest of the Erstfeld rings (ring 3, a neckring). It is uncertain how far apart in date these two finds are; while the similarity of the large buffer terminals to certainly later examples with iron cores is recognised, it is usually assumed that the finds do not overlap.35

Types and quantity of torques in hoards

There is no agreed way of defining and describing later Iron Age torques. Finds have been grouped by their decorative styles or by the locking mechanisms in the terminals.36 In this paper, a simple division is made between (i) torques with buffer terminals; (ii) tubular torques; and (iii) torques with ring terminals. While the tubular torques have buffer terminals, their construction using sheet gold with iron cores and a wax filling is very different and is widely recognised. Torques with ring terminals are found almost exclusively in Britain.

The finds are divided fairly evenly between torques with buffer terminals (those from Beringen, Saint-Gérand-de-Vaux, Tayac, Niederzier (Fig. 3), Formigliana, San Germano Vercellese, Siena Casacce) and sheet gold torques over iron and wax or resin cores (known from Essendon, Snettisham, Frasnes-lez-Buissenal, Pommeroeul, Beaugeois, Saint-Louis/Kegelriss, and possibly La Tène). Following the suggestion that the name ‘Nitiobriges’ inscribed on the torque from Mailly-le-Camp refers to the people of this name placed by the late Roman Peutinger Table in the Champagne region, rather than, as originally thought, the tribe of the same name from south-west France,37 it is now possible to see tubular torques as largely restricted to north-west Europe.

33 L.-P. Delestrée, L’or du trophée Laténien de Ribemont-sur-Ancre (Somme), témoin d’une bataille

oubliée. Rev. Num. 157, 2001, 177-215. 34 Zieghaus (note 10). 35 F. Müller, Zur Datierung des Goldschatzes von Erstfeld UR. Jahrb. SGUF 73, 1990, 83-94 esp.

88. 36 Eluère (note 30). 37 A. Duval, Le torque de Mailly-le-Camp (Aube) et les Nitiobriges: un coïncidence troublante. In:

L’âge du fer en Europe sud-occidentale. Actes XVIe Coll. AFEAF, Agen 1992/Aquitania 12 (Toulouse 1984) 203-212.


Fig. 3: Gold objects from Niederzier hoard. 1-2 torques, 3 armring (scale 1:4). The circles represent the number of coins in the hoard (after Göbel et al. note 13).

Finds with ring terminals are known in abundance from Snettisham, and from Netherurd, but also in the small armring from Beringen (Appendix, no. 5). The terminals are cast onto twisted strands of metal or wire, as was the case with Tayac and presumably Siena Casacce. Other types may include a twisted torc from Netherurd.

Armrings

Although attention has traditionally focused on torques, other pieces of jewellery or body ornaments occur frequently. What are called ‘armrings’ here, but which may also have been anklets, are known from several sites. There is considerable diversity in their manufacture. At Le Câtillon and Saint-Louis/Kegelriss (Fig. 2,5), they are made of twisted wire, comparable with finds from Schalune (Bern) in Switzerland and Lauterach in Austria, where the object is silver and was found with a silver finger ring, a pair of late La Tène silver brooches


linked by a silver chain, and Iron Age and Roman silver coins.38 The Le Câtillon piece is described as being made of gold leaf over a core of a different metal.

The piece from Snettisham hoard E is hollow but was associated with a massive ring terminal torque made from twisted wires (the so-called ‘great torque’). The Beringen find has – relatively unusually for continental Europe – ring terminals cast onto twisted wire, while the find from Fraire-2 is a plain rod of metal with simply decorated terminals. Niederzier is an unbroken hollow tube with no terminals (Fig. 3,3), while the finds from Ribemont-sur-Ancre and Siena Casacce have buffer terminals. Both the Snettisham E and Niederzier armlets appear to have been designed to accompany the torques with which they were found. As we have seen, sets of ornaments are known from the earlier finds at Erstfeld and Waldalgesheim. The armring from Podmokly (Appendix, no. 19) is twisted, with flat, expanded terminals.

Finger rings (or possibly toe rings) are known from Snettisham A and Saint-Louis/Kegelriss (Fig. 2,3-4), hinting at the presence of sets of ornaments. This may also be reflected in the occurrence of two torques of notably different sizes in the Frasnes-lez-Buissenal and Saint-Louis/Kegelriss hoards (in the latter find, the larger torque is approximately twice the size of the smaller). Other types of object made wholly or partly of gold are rare, but these include gold brooches, best seen in the late Iron Age hoard found recently near Winchester (Hampshire), which also contained ingots/bracelets and two fine chain necklace torques.39 Small fragments of gold ring such as those from the Brech (Morbihan) hoard40 could derive from the chains that often linked such brooches together. Although closely related in many ways to the other finds discussed here, the Winchester hoard is not considered in this paper.

Damage and destruction

Many torques have clearly been deliberately damaged. Fragmentary or broken torques occur at Essendon, Netherurd, Snettisham B/C and F (Fig. 4), Beringen, Pommeroeul, Ribemont-sur-Ancre, Tayac, Saint-Louis/Kegelriss, Niederzier, La Tène and Siena Casacce. In contrast, the coins associated with the torques are very rarely damaged. Occasional coins are halved (Essendon, Snettisham) or test marked (Tayac) and many of the coins from Courcoury are said to have been partially melted.

The systematic breaking and interlinking of torques is found only at Snettisham. What may be systematic reworking is seen at Beringen (Appendix, no. 5), where there is a whole torque (albeit broken); half a torque (the front half represented by

38 M.H. Crawford, Roman Republican coin hoards (London 1969) 84 no. 170; S. Rieckhoff-Pauli,

Der Lauteracher Schatzfund aus archäologischer Sicht. Num. Zeitschr. 95, 1981, 11-23. 39 J.D. Hill/A.J. Spence/S. Worrell. The Winchester hoard: a find of unique gold jewellery from

Southern England (in preparation); for a preliminary account, see J.D. Hill, The Winchester hoard. Past 38 (2001) 1-2.

40 M. Clement/P. Galliou, Le dépôt gaulois de Brech (Morbihan). Rev. Arch. Ouest 2, 1985, 65-71.


Fig. 4: Selection of metal objects and coins from Snettisham hoard F (© The British Museum).

the pair of terminals and part of the rings, again broken); what may be a quarter of a twisted torque or armring; and the terminal from another torque. At Niederzier, one of the torques and the armring are complete, but only half of the second torque is present (again the front half). At Saint-Louis/Kegelriss the complete terminal and one ‘half’ of the smaller torque is present but the rear plate which may have represented 20% of the circumference is missing (as is also the case with the related finds from Mailly-le-Camp and Broighter). The larger Saint-Louis/Kegelriss torque is represented only by the terminals and all the elements of the tubular torques had been squashed. At Siena Casacce the terminal and length of ring of the fragmentary torque represent approximately one quarter of the piece. Half-torques also occur at the watery deposits of La Tène and Pommeroeul, the latter with clear evidence of having been broken.41 One of the Netherurd torques was broken in two and only the terminal of another torque survived. 41 F. Hubert, Site portuaire du Pommeroeul I. Catalogue du matériel pré- et protohistorique. Arch.

Belgica 248 (Brussels 1982) 48.


It may be that the torques were being destroyed in order to make coins. If that were the case, the two types of object found in the same context might be expected to share similar metallurgical compositions. However, both coins and torques could have been made from recycling the other. The issue is further complicated by the possibility that some of the metal could derive either from contemporary coins of non-local origin – the presence of which is, as already noted, a characteristic of many of these hoards – or from earlier coins of quite different composition. Where metallurgical analysis has been undertaken of substantial elements of hoards, at Beringen, Saint-Louis/Kegelriss, and Niederzier, it has proved inconclusive. Similarly ambiguous results were reached in considering the possible sources of the gold used for the Waldalgesheim ornaments.

There is evidence for bullion in a number of hoards. Small ingots of gold are known from Tayac and ingots or bars were present in the Courcoury hoard. Ingots occur at both Essendon and Snettisham, the latter in the form of ingot/bracelets and cakes of metal. The coin hoard excavated in 1999 at Manching contained a metal cake of gold,42 and gold thread was reported from one found in west Bohemia.43 It may be noted that the terminals of the Civray torque contained small gold bars, whose purpose may have been to provide either sufficient weight or strength.44

On account of (i) this destruction; (ii) the incomplete records and dispersal of older finds; and (iii) the uncertainty as to the original weight of tubular torques which would have included an iron core and a filling of either wax or resin, any consideration of metrology and of any relationship between torques and coins is fraught with difficulties. To assume, however, that there is a clear metrological link between the torques and coins is, in effect, to presume that they had a similar function, for example, that torques were a form of palaeo-money,45 which is highly questionable. To do so also presumes a unity of purpose in the deposition of the hoards.

The context of the hoards

Most of the hoards appear to have been found in pots or in pits, but detailed information is lacking. While there is a clear trend for the finds to have been interpreted as votive in character and to have been deposited in special places, this does need qualification.

Some hoards seem to have been deposited close to water: the Frasnes-lez-Buissenal hoard (Appendix, no. 7), for example, was found near a ravine which has a spring at the bottom, whilst the Tayac hoard was buried beside a spring. The finds from La Tène and Pommeroeul were both deposited in water. On the other hand, Furger-Gunti’s suggestion that the Saint-Louis/Kegelriss hoard was

42 B. Zieghaus, Der Goldfund. In: S. Sievers, Vorbericht uber dis Ausgrabungen 1998-1999 im

Oppidum von Manching. Germania 78, 2000, 354-394 esp. 378-382. 43 H.-J. Kellner/K. Castelin, Ein Fund keltische Muschelstatere aus West Böhmen. Jahrb. Num. u.

Geldgesch. 23, 1973, 93-113. 44 Duval/Eluère (note 25) 258-259 fig. 6; 10. 45 As proposed by Lewuillon (note 15). See, however, the articles cited in note 5 above.


deposited on the marshy plain of the Rhine – on the basis that the discovery was thought to have been made during a flood46 – should probably be discounted in view of its more recent attribution to Kegelriss. The Netherurd hoard was found on a moor and while this has been taken to indicate that it was placed away from settlements, not enough information about the locality is available to sustain this interpretation. The Beringen (Fig. 5) and Niederzier hoards were found in settlements, although at the latter site it is suggested that the hoard may have been placed next to a cult figure.

Fig. 5: Gold objects from Beringen hoard. 1-2, 4 torques, 3 twisted armband or small torque (scale 1:4). The circles represent the number of coins in the hoard (after van Impe et al. note 58).

The sacrificial context of the Ribemont-sur-Ancre ‘trophy’, of which the hoard was just part, might to be thought to be unique, but it has similarities with the deposits at Pommeroeul and La Tène which similarly contain weapons, coins, and other objects. At La Tène many of the weapons had been deliberately damaged or destroyed, a feature characteristic of mass deposits, whether in watery places or at sacred places such as the sanctuary sites of Gournay-sur-Aronde or Bern-Tiefenau.47 The inscription of a sacred place in the landscape may also have been undertaken at Snettisham, where the hoards lie within a large enclosure, though the contemporaneity of the hoards and the enclosure is not conclusively established. In the low lying landscape of East Anglia, Ken Hill – on which Snettisham is sited – 46 Furger-Gunti (note 2). 47 Müller (note 28).


may be both physically and metaphysically closer to the gods. At sacred places such as these, which were both a link and a barrier to the supernatural world, it was possible to communicate with the gods.

It should also be noted that torques of precious metal are not found in late La Tène burials. A possible exception to this pattern is represented by a tiny fragment of gold foil from a cremation burial at Westhampnett (West Sussex).48 However, even if the fragment does derive from a torque, while the object may have been present on the pyre, the remains of it were not placed in the grave. Equally, gold coins are not common finds either in burials or in sanctuaries or in mass deposits.

Conclusion

Hoards of torques and coins share many similarities across central and western Europe. These common features included the selection of specific types of coin for incorporation into the deposit and the breaking of torques. Many hoards were buried in or close to ‘natural’ places such as springs or lakes that may have been numinous, or in man-made places that were sacred spaces, such as the enclosure at Snettisham or beside the possible cult figure at Niederzier. Many of these finds can be regarded as votive offerings or sacrifices to the gods. The selection of coins with a plain side and/or celestial symbols is frequent, and appears quite deliberate. The fact that many of the coins included in these finds are at the edge of the distributions of their types emphasises this choice. This would seem to suggest an awareness of the heavens, and as signified by the gold, the glistening light of celestial bodies, the sun, moon and stars. Gold may have been the embodiment on earth of the celestial bodies and of the heavens where some of the gods lived.

However, there is also considerable diversity, as should be anticipated in a relatively small and poorly recorded group of finds that encompasses such a wide area and spans several centuries. While the association of many of the hoards with historically attested migrations may currently be unfashionable, the widespread distribution of some coin types and perhaps also the die links between finds, suggest that this possibility should not be dismissed entirely.

The two possible explanations are not, however, mutually exclusive, and indeed are united by the strongly male associations of the material, both in the wearing and display of torques, and the issue and uses of precious metal coinage. As we have seen, torques are widely represented as symbols of mortal warriors of high status, and of divinity: torques are shown on many idols or representations of gods, heroes or priests.

The ritual breakage of objects seen at many of the sanctuaries and mass deposits at which weaponry forms a vital element, and indeed the common damage to weaponry in funerary rituals, may shed some light on why the gold torques in the hoards of torques and coins were frequently damaged. Gifts were made to the gods in order to communicate with them and to thank them but also in the expectation of

48 A.P. Fitzpatrick, Archaeological excavations on the route of the A27 Westhampnett bypass, West

Sussex, 2: The cemeteries. Wessex Arch. Report 12 (Salisbury 1997).


gaining benefit from them. In order to transfer gifts from the world of mortals to the realm of the spirits, a process of separation and of transformation may have been thought necessary. The damage to the torques in the hoards of torques and coins suggests that the former could not be transferred to the supernatural in their mortal form. The damage to the torques symbolised both a physical and conceptual separation that enabled their transfer to the supernatural as a metaphysical essence.

Some of these gifts were made at numinous places and in sacred spaces at which it was possible to communicate with the gods and to transform people, animals and objects. As with many types of sacrifice, the offering was often shared between the mortal and the immortal; retention of part of a torque would have allowed it to be used in an act of re-creation, through the creation of something new. Perhaps it is this sort of relationship that is depicted on the reverse of Regenbogenschüsselchen, which seem to depict torques and circular objects that could either be coins, or representations of celestial bodies. Unlike the torques, however, it would seem that the coins could be transferred to – and be believed to be effective in – another world in their earthly form.

These possibilities are clearly not the only ones, nor do they seek to encompass the whole range of hoards of torques and coins. However, the combination of the acts of giving and separation may help to explain why some characteristics of these hoards are maintained across large distances and over more than two centuries. The physical and enduring brilliance of gold derived from the physical transformation of ore to refined metal. Gold was precious, and when embodied in the form of torques and coins, it symbolised powers, both sacred and profane. In this form it could become a golden gift for the golden gods.


Appendix: Gazetteer of hoards of torques and coins

1. Le Câtillon, Jersey, Channel Islands (GB)49

Found 1957. A squashed arm ring of gold leaf over a core of ?iron, associated with late La Tène brooches and rings of silver and copper alloy and c. 3000 coins. Of the accessible and identifiable sample of coins, 2,490 are Armorican and 21 British, principally of silver. Although sherds of pottery were found and it has been widely stated that the hoard was contained within pots,50 the finder was (eventually) explicit that the sherds were discovered after the hoard, which lay under a stone. First century BC.

2. Essendon, Hertfordshire (GB)51

Found 1992. Sixty-nine gold coins, two triangular gold ingots, and fragments of at least one tubular torque were found by metal detector users. The two terminals were discovered 20 m apart. Six or eight coins and pieces of folded gold sheet were found in one of them. Subsequent excavation brought the total number of coins to over 250 and indicated that there were two concentrations of coins 30 m apart. This might suggest that there were originally two hoards, both of which had been completely disturbed by ploughing.

A separate deposit contained seven swords and scabbards with suspension rings, four spears, one dagger and a piece of copper alloy sheet metal that may represent a shield facing.

3. Netherurd, Borders (GB)52

Found 1806. Parts of four torques; two twisted strand torques with loop terminals, one of twisted section resembling a ribbon torque that was broken in half, and a terminal that would have been cast on to a twisted strand torque. There were over 40 ‘globules à la croix’ (Scheers 15).

Hunter suggests that the third, twisted torque, which resembles some Bronze Age types might be a ribbon torque perhaps of Iron Age date of a type found in Britain and Ireland; Iron Age torques of this style are also found in continental Europe.

49 A.P. Fitzpatrick/J.V.S. Megaw Further finds from the Le Câtillon hoard. Proc. Prehist. Soc. 53,

1987, 433-444 esp. 434-435 pl. 16, 15; C. Haselgrove (note 5) 317-221. 50 S. Scheers, Traité de numismatique Celtique II: La Gaule Belgique (Paris 1977) 886; Göbel et al.

(note 13) 50. 51 I.M. Stead, The Salisbury hoard (Stroud 1998) 144-145; and pers. comm. 52 J. Lawson, Letter to Sir Walter Scott, Baronet, describing some golden ornaments found in March

1806, near the house of New Cairnmuir, Peebleshire. Arch. Scotica 4 Part 2, 1833, 217-219; R.W. Feacham, The ‘Cairnmuir’ hoard from Netherurd, Peebleshire. Proc. Soc. Ant. Scotland 91, 1957-1958, 112-116; Scheers (note 50) 877 no. 19; F. Hunter, Iron Age coins from Scotland. Proc. Soc. Ant. Scotland 127, 1997, 513-525 esp. 515-516.


4. Snettisham, Norfolk53

Found 1948, 1950, 1964, 1968, 1973, 1990-1991. At least 12 and possibly l4 hoards have been found over 45 years, all but one in the centre of a large polygonal enclosure. Most of the torques have been recovered from hoards and while there have been isolated finds in 1964, 1968 and 1973, it is possible that these also derived from hoards. The hoards appear to be broadly contemporary, dating to the earlier first or even the late second century BC. Many of the torques are of copper alloy or contain very small quantities of gold and silver. The combined weight is over 40 kg. Considering all the hoards, most of the torques have loop terminals, followed by buffer terminals, torques with ring terminals and tubular torques being much less common. Some new types of terminal have been identified in the finds from the 1990 excavation.54

There is considerable variety in the hoards with regard to what was deposited, and in what way. Hoards B/C and F contain many fragmentary objects; hoards G, H, J and K, excavated in 1990, comprise ‘nests’ of torques placed in small pits; while hoard M consists of ingots and hoard N of gold coins. The torques in hoards G and H were both in two separate deposits that were separated by a slight layer of soil, with what may be considered the most valuable torque on the top of the lower deposit. Hoard L also contained two deposits but they were separated by a much thicker layer of soil and the torques in the lower deposit were all of precious metals. Hoard A comprises three complete tubular torques, two terminals (both probably from a fourth torque) and a gold ring.

Hoards B and C

The contents of hoards B and C, both of which contained torques and coins, were mixed at the time of discovery. The torques include loop terminal torques in gold, tin?, and copper alloy, copper alloy buffer terminal torques, ingots, and rings in gold, copper alloy and tin. Hoard B contained 12 gold coins and Hoard C at least 145 potin coins.

A range of other finds indicate metalworking: metal cake; molten drips, including one of tin with traces of gold; tin with charcoal and copper alloy adhering to it; what may well be a balance pan from scales; fragments of shield

53 R.R. Clarke, The early Iron Age treasure from Snettisham, Norfolk. Proc. Prehist. Soc. 20, 1954,

27-86; J.E. Burns, Additional torcs from Snettisham, Norfolk. Proc. Prehist. Soc. 37, 1973, 228-229; P. Sealey, The later history of Icenian electrum torcs. Proc. Prehist. Soc. 45, 1979, 165-178; Haselgrove (note 5) 324-326; P. Northover, Copper, tin, silver and gold in the Iron Age. In: E.A. Slater/J.O. Tate (eds.), Science and archaeology, Glasgow 1987. BAR 196 (Oxford 1988) 223-234 esp. 230-232; I.M. Stead, The Snettisham treasure: excavations in 1990. Antiquity 65, 1991, 447-464; idem, Die Schatzfunde von Snettisham. In: A. Haffner (ed.), Heiligtümer und Opferkulte der Kelten. Arch. Deutschland Sonderheft 1995 (Stuttgart 1995) 100-110; idem (note 51) 145-8; A.P. Fitzpatrick, The Snettisham, Norfolk, hoards of Iron Age torques: sacred or profane? Antiquity 66, 1992, 395-398; H. Hauteneuve, Les torques tubulaires de Snettisham: importation continentale ou production insulaire? Lunula 7, 1999, 89-100.

54 Stead (note 53) 1991, 454.


binding55 and other objects of copper alloy; and a hammer stone/cushion stone. Iron nails have been thought to derive from a wooden chest but this technique is not typical of contemporary wooden vessels and the nails may derive from other objects.

Hoard E

A ring terminal torque made from twisted wires (the ‘great torque’) and an armlet, probably a matching set, with an incomplete buffer terminal torque with a twisted ring pushed through the terminals of the torque and looped through the armlet. An ‘au bâteau’ quarter stater (Scheers 13 cl. I var.) was found, apparently inserted within the terminal of the complete torque.

Hoard F

Found by a metal detector user in 1990, this hoard seems to have been buried in a copper alloy vessel and comprised 9.2 kg of metal. At least 50 torques, at least 70 ingot rings/armlets, three straight ingots and nine coins were present. Many of the objects had been cut into pieces and were also strung together by interlinking the fragments. A tubular torque had been flattened, broken and perforated so that it could be linked into a group. Five gold coins, one of which was halved, had been placed within a fragment of a tubular torque.56

Of the four hoards with torques and coins, it may be noted that hoards B/C and F contain clear evidence for the cutting, bending and squashing, and interlinking of finds. Hoard B/C has clear evidence for metalworking. An incomplete torque was pushed through the ‘great torque’ and armlet in Hoard E. The ‘nested’ hoards also include fragmentary objects, some pieces are interlinked (the way that the torques were placed in the pits may also have produced this effect) and in Hoard L wire and sheet metal was wrapped around complete torques. The torque found in 1964 has what may be casting runners projecting from the loop terminals.57

5. Beringen, Limburg (B)58

Found 1995. The hoard was apparently buried in a small pit within a settlement and contained one complete buffer terminal torque; almost precisely one half of a buffer terminal torque, represented by the terminals and lengths of rings; a terminal from a buffer terminal torque; and part (one quarter?) of a loop terminal twisted armband or small torque. The coins comprise 22 Regenbogenschüsselchen, and three staters ‘au croissant’ (Scheers 11). The metallurgical analyses could not establish whether the coins were the source of the metals for the torques or vice

55 Stead (note 53) 1991; idem, Many more shields from Iron Age Britain. Ant. Journal 71, 1991, 1-35

App. 2 E 11. 56 Stead (note 53) 1991 pl. I. 57 Burns (note 53).


versa. The single terminal has a slightly different metal composition from the whole and half torques, which could represent a pair. Second century BC.

6. Fraire-2, Namur (B)59

Found 1981-1984. Reported in parcels, this hoard was found on a small hilltop next to a stream and contained 87 Nervian staters (Scheers 29), four Eburones (Scheers 31), four Regenbogenschüsselchen, ten plated bronze units (Scheers 152), and a simple gold armlet. Early-mid first century BC.

7. Frasnes-lez-Buissenal, Hainaut (B)60

Found 1864. The hoard was buried near a ravine, the stream in which flows to a fountain. The hoard, which was placed in a pot, contained approximately 50 gold coins (possibly 52), two tubular torques and a gold ring. The larger torque is has elaborate repoussé decoration in the form of rams heads. The smaller torque is plain. Both have iron cores and had an organic filling.

Nine of the coins can be identified as uniface staters (Scheers 24 cl. I, II and III), which were probably the only type present. In the past, Scheers 29 coins were also attributed to the find, but this is now thought to be incorrect. First century BC.

8. Jauche, Brabant Wallon (B)61

Found 2002. An Eburones stater (Scheers 31) and a fragment of a torque reported as surface finds.

9. Pommeroeul, Hainaut (B)62

Found 1976? Half a tubular torque with an iron core, with both terminals, was found in an old river channel adjacent to the Hensies-Pommeroeul canal. A timber

58 L. van Impe/G. Creemers/R. van Laere/S. Scheers/H. Wouters/B. Ziegaus, De Keltische goudschat

van Beringen (prov. Limburg). Arch. Vlaanderen 6, 1997/1998 (2002) 9-132. 59 S. Scheers, Le trésor de Fraire-2 (1981-1984). Jean Elsen, Liste 74 (December), 1984, 6-10; Göbel

et al. (note 13). See also van Heesch this volume, no. 7. 60 Clarke (note 53) 43-44; A. Cahen-Delhaye, Le fin des ages mètaux en Hainaut. In: J.-M.

Cauchies/J.-M. Duvosquel (eds.), Recueil d’Études Hainuyère offèrtes à Maurice A. Arnould. Analectes d’histoire du Hainaut (Mons 1983) 77-94; idem, Le trésor de Frasnes-lèz-Buissenal (Hainaut belge), circumstances de la découverte. In: Les Celtes en France du Nord et en Belgique, VI-Ier siècle avant J.C. (Valenciennes 1990) 153-155; V. Kruta, L’ornamentation du grand torque de Frasnes-lèz-Buissenal, et sa place dans l’art celtique. In: ibid. 156-158; I. Rubin, Frasnes hoard. In: I. Rubin, The Guerinol Collection I (New York 1975) 129-140; Scheers (note 50) 882 no. 36. See also van Heesch this volume, no. 8.

61 See van Heesch this volume, no. 12. 62 G. de Boe/F. Hubert, Méthode et résultats du sauvetage archéologique à Pommeroeul. Arch.

Belgica 207 (Brussels 1978) 11-16 fig. 9; Hubert (note 41) 47-50 no. 84; fig. 4, 84; 16.


structure of uncertain date and function was found nearby as well as objects of earlier prehistoric and Roman date.

Other finds of Iron Age date include iron tools, mid and late La Tène swords in their scabbards, and a small hoard of potin coins.

10. Beaugeois vicinity, Maine-et-Loire (F)63

Found 1980s. Fragment from a repoussé decorated tubular torque found in a pot together with gold staters, 104 potins and several hundred silver coins (half drachmae and 224 obols).

11. Courcoury, Charente-Maritime (F)64

Found in two lots in 1802 and 1822. More than 100 coins, mainly issues ascribed to the Boii and Regenbogenschüsselchen and at least five pieces of gold or ingots, weighing an estimated 1,500 kg. Some of the coins had been partially or wholly melted.

12. Ribemont-sur-Ancre, Somme (F)65

Found 1999. A group of five hemistaters and a quarter stater, and an armlet (diameter 75 mm) were found either side of a human forearm.66 The coins may have been contained within a purse, of which the corroded remains of the copper alloy suspension ring were found.

The group was found amongst the decapitated and dismembered remains of warriors and their destroyed weaponry that formed the ‘trophy’ at Ribemont-sur-Ancre. One of the expanded terminals of the armlet has been removed. The vast majority of the associated weaponry is of La Tène C1b date. Third century BC.

63 C. Eluère, Das Gold der Kelten (Munich 1987) 172; idem (note 26) 241 n. 2; Abb. 11. 64 ABT 476, 547, no. 31; K. Castelin, Die Prägzeit der süddeutschen Regenbogenschüsselchen.

Jahrb. Num. u. Geldgesch. 23, 1973, 53-76; D. Nony, A propos du trésor de monnaies celtique du type ‘arc-en-ciel’ de Courcoury (Charente-Maritime). Bull. Soc. Française Num. 32, 1977, 169-172; Nash (note 11) 311 no. 37; J. Hiernard/D. Simon-Hiernard, Les Santon, les Helvètes et la celtique d’europe centrale. Numismatique, archéologie et histoire. Aquitania 16, 1999, 93-125; Lewuillon (note 15) 98-99.

65 Delestrée (note 33) esp. 181 and 183-185; pl. x, 26; F. Müller, Götter, Gaben, Rituale. Religion in der Frühgeschichte Europas. Kulturgeschichte der Antiken Welt 92 (Mainz 2002) 165-166; J.-L. Brunaux (ed.), Ribemont-sur-Ancre (Somme). Bilan préliminaire et nouvelles hypotheses. Gallia 56, 1999, 177-283.

66 Müller (note 65) Abb. 114, pace Delestrée (note 33) 181, who states that all the finds were in direct contact.


13. Saint-Gérand-de-Vaux, Allier (F)67

Found 1844. A complete plain torque with simple buffer terminals weighing 284 g and 50 Phillipus staters. Now either lost or melted down. Third or early second century B.C.

14. Serviès-en-Val, Aude (F)68

Found 1839. Two torques, one Regenbogenschüsselchen and two monnaies à la croix?

15. Tayac, Gironde (F)69

Found 1893. Found within two pots, this hoard contained a twisted torque with buffer terminals, broken in three in antiquity (the small broken section representing approximately one quarter of the ring), together with a length of gold wire or thread, two small gold ingots or bars, and 73 Regenbogenschüsselchen and 325 staters from different regions of France. Each pot contained around 200 coins and part of a torque. At least one coins appears to have been test-marked. First half of the second century BC?

16. Saint-Louis (F) / Kegelriss (D)70

The provenance of this hoard, which was possibly found in two parcels in 1883, has long been uncertain; it is equally unclear whether all the finds ascribed to the find are correctly attributed because of the widespread sale of items. The most plausible accounts now suggest that the discovery was made on the eastern side of the Rhine in vicinity of the Kegelriss oppidum in Baden-Württemberg.71

The terminals of a large tubular torque and half of a smaller one, a gold armband and two gold rings the size of finger rings survive, though there may have been four or five originally. Most of the 84 coins that can reasonably be attributed to the hoard are either Regenbogenschüsselchen or from the mussels series.

The Boii mussels coins and the local variant of this tradition (the ‘Basel group’) have very similar metallurgical compositions to the torques, containing c. 94-96% gold (although the analyses were undertaken by three different laboratories). This could be interpreted as indicating that the torques were made from coins or vice

67 Rev. Arch. 1, 1844, 123-124 fig on p. 123, B and D; Furger-Gunti (note 2) 26. 68 Furger-Gunti (note 2) 25; Castelin (note 64) 66 Abb. 7, 3-6; Hiernard/Simon-Hiernard (note 64). 69 Kellner (note 11); Boudet (note 27) 153-159, pl. 200-203; idem, A propos du dépôt d’or celtique

de Tayac (Gironde). In: Mélanges offerts au Docteur J.-B. Colbert de Beaulieu (Paris 1987) 107-120; Haselgrove (note 12).

70 Furger-Gunti (note 2); A. Furger-Gunti/F. Müller (eds.), Gold der Helvetier (Zurich 1991) 125. 71 R. Dehn, Neue Entdeckungen zur Spätlatènezeit im Breisgau. Tarodunum, Kegelriss und der

‘Goldfund von Saint-Louis bei Basel.’ In P. Jud (ed.), Die spätkeltische Zeit am südlichen Oberrhein. Kolloquium Basel, 17/18 Oktober 1991 (Basel 1994) 110-116.


versa. The Regenbogenschüsselchen from the hoard have a gold content of between 60-75%.

This provenance of this find was previously known as ‘from Alsace’.72 In one listing it appears under both this name and Saint-Louis bei Basel.73

17. Niederzier, Düren (D)74

Found 1978. The hoard was found within a pot in a small pit that was cut into the top of a larger pit in an enclosed settlement. An adjacent posthole is suggested to have supported a wooden cult figure or idol. The hoard contained (i) one whole hollow buffer terminal torque from which one terminal had been removed; within that was (ii) a hollow armlet; and within that (iii) the two bent terminals and half of the circumference of a similar torque. The jewellery all has traces of wear.

Forty-six coins (26 Regenbogenschüsselchen and 20 staters belonging to the Lummen-Niederzier variant of Scheers 9) lay within the armring with the concave Regenbogenschüsselchen nested one within the other. The coins, which it is noted comprise a handful, might have been within an organic container. Some of the Regenbogenschüsselchen are die-linked.

Metallurgical analysis shows that there is considerable variation in the composition of the coins and that the range encompasses the quite tightly grouped compositions of the jewellery. The total weight of the hoard (322 g) is almost precisely a Roman pound. It is suggested in the report that the hoard may date to 53 BC and Julius Caesar’s campaign. Whilst the historical association for deposition may be attractive, the torques could very well be earlier, as the coins almost certainly are.75

18. La Tène, Neuchâtel (CH)76

Found before 1885. Half of what was probably a hollow torque was found, the terminal of which may have been decorated with filigree. Although the extensive deposits of weaponry are best known, a wide range of objects were deposited at this site, including – from at least the second century BC – coins.

72 See Clarke (note 53) 44; Joffroy (note 32) 52-54. 73 Göbel et al. (note 13) Tab. 4 nos 3 and 14. 74 Göbel et al. (note 13). 75 Haselgrove (note 12) 135. 76 P. Vouga, La Tène. Monographie de la station publiée au nom de la commission des fouilles de La

Tène (Leipzig 1923) 67, Abb. 8; Furger-Gunti (note 2) 25 Abb. 16b; J.M. de Navarro, The Finds from the Site of La Tène, I: Scabbards and the swords found in them (London 1972); D.F. Allen, The coins from La Tène. Études Celtiques 13, 1973, 477-521.


19. Podmokly, Rokycany (CZ)77

Found 1771. Around 7,000 gold coins with an estimated weight of at least 42 kg were found in a bronze vessel along with a twisted silver arm ring with expanded and flattened terminals. The bronze vessel was apparently an Eggers type 20 Roman bucket of Italian origin.78

20. Vel’ký Bysterc, Dolni Kubin (SK)79

Found 1879. A gold diadem or armband and 11 gold and 18 silver coins.

21. Formigliana, Vercelli (I)80

Found in 1879. Two torques with buffer terminals and possibly a Regenbogen-schüsselchen.

22. Padua, Padua (I)81

Found in 1531. One ‘hollow’ torque and gold and silver coins ‘made like a walnut, concave on one side and convex on the other,’ a description well suited to Regenbogenschüsselchen.

23. San Germano Vercellese, Vercelli (I)82

1870s? Circumstances of discovery uncertain. A torque apparently of twisted construction and ten staters, perhaps Regenbogenschüsselchen.

77 R. Paulsen, Die Münzprägungen der Boier (Leipzig and Vienna 1933) nos 201, 208, 218; Furger-

Gunti (note 2) 26 Abb. 17; Zieghaus (note 10) 99. 78 H-J. Eggers, Der römische Import im Freien Germanien. Atlas der Urgeschichte 1 (Hamburg

1951); J. Kunow, Der römische Import in der Germania libera bis zu den Markomannenkriegen. Göttinger Schr. zur Vor- und Frühgesch. 21 (Neumünster 1983); J. Waldhauser, Encylopedie Keltu v Cechách (Prague 2001) 98-99, 390-392.

79 Paulsen (note 77) 110; R. Forrer, Keltische Numismatik der Rhein und Donaulande 2 (revised edition, Graz 1969, ed. K. Castelin) 58-59 no. 198.

80 Furger-Gunti (note 2) 23 Abb. 15; G. Bergonzi, La Tène gold and silver in Italy: a review of the archaeological evidence. In: G. Morteani/J.P. Northover (eds.), Prehistoric Gold in Europe. Mines, metallurgy and manufacture (Dordrecht 1995) 561-576 esp. 572 no. 9; A. Pautasso, Monnaies celtiques en Italie. In: G. Grasmann/W. Janssen/M. Brandt (eds.), Keltische Numismatik und Archäologie. Numismatique celtique et archéologie. BAR Internat. Ser. 200 (Oxford 1984) 283-307; P. Piana Agostinetti, Torques d’oro e monete come offerte votive dei Celti cisalpini, Scienze dell’Antichità. Storia, Archeologia, Antropologia 3-4, 1989-90, 437-464 esp. 450 n. 53-54.

81 G. Gorini, La circolazione monetale atestina in età preromana e roman. In: G. Tosi (ed.), Esta Antica. (Este 1992) 205-239 esp. 212; Bergonzi (note 80) 565, 573 no. 25.

82 Furger-Gunti (note 2) 28; Pautasso (note 80); Piana Agostinetti (note 80) 448 n. 46; Müller (note 28) 168 no. 33; Bergonzi (note 80) 572 no. 5.


24. Siena Casacce, Siena (I)83

Found in two stages in 1872 and 1875. Four gold ornaments; (i) a twisted torque with buffer terminals; (ii) a plain torque with buffer terminals; (iii) a terminal and length of ring from another plain torque; and (iv) a plain armring with buffer terminals and ten thin, slightly concave gold discs with thickened edges, probably Regenbogenschüsselchen.

83 Kellner (note 11) 41-43 Abb. 1; K. Castelin, Vindelikisches Gold bei Vercelli (Oberitalien).

Money Trend 12 (February 1980) 14-16; Furger-Gunti (note 2) 27-28 Abb. 18; Piana Agostinetti (note 80) 443-448; Göbel et al. (note 13) 44-47; Bergonzi (note 80) 572 no. 2.

Gifts for the golden gods: Iron Age hoards of torques and coins

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