Valuable gold hoard on display
By Phil Hill
A HOARD of Bronze Age gold dating back more than 3,000 years is glittering for all to see at the Somerset County Museum, in Taunton.
The treasure - the largest discovery of Bronze Age gold ever found in Somerset - was unearthed in Priddy, on the Mendips, by a metal detectorist.
The discovery contains 17 bracelets and neck ornaments, known as torcs, including some designs that have never been seen before.
Somerset County Council archaeologists believe the artefacts may have been an offering to the gods dating back to 1300-1100BC.
Every piece in the hoard was deliberately twisted and bent out of shape before being buried.
The Priddy Hoard went on display the County Museum from last Wednesday.
The ?38,000 needed to buy the hoard came from donations, including ?16,500 from the MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund and ?14,250 from The Art Fund.
Stephen Minnitt, Somerset County Council's Head of Museums, said: "The hoard demonstrates the existence of sophisticated trade and exchange links in the county.
"It is the most important Bronze Age discovery made in Somerset for many years. The presence of the unrecorded bracelet types gives the find national significance."
Somerset County Museum
Taunton Castle, Castle Green, Taunton, TA1 4AA, Somerset, England
T: 01823 320 201
Open: April-October Tues-Fri 1000-1700 Sat-Sun 1400-1800 Bank Holiday Mon 1000-1700 November-March Tues-Sat 1000-1500
Bronze Age gold to be exhibited
The jewellery items, known as torcs, still have sharp edges, indicating that the artefacts were used very little before they were buried.
Archaeologists think the hoard was some kind of offering to the gods, rather than it being buried for safe keeping.
Ritual damage
It is also believed the pieces of jewellery were intentionally bent out of shape before being buried in the ground, perhaps as a result of some kind of ritual damage.
The Priddy Hoard is significant because it includes two previously unknown types of object not previously recorded in Britain - the doubled, and hooked, bracelets of ribbon and bar.
Gold was a highly-prized metal in the Bronze Age and finds in Somerset are rare.
The only other examples known in the area are two late Bronze Age bracelets found on Brean Down.
The jewellery came out of the ground as a large ball of intertwined metal, but once prized apart it was revealed to be a collection of torcs.
The museum bought the jewellery for ?38,000, with a ?14,250 contribution from The Art Fund.
Site Name: Priddy Circles, near the Castle of Comfort Inn
Civil Parish: Priddy
Comprises:
PRN 24042 Priddy circle, SW of Castle of Comfort Inn, Priddy
PRN 24043 Priddy circle, SW of Castle of Comfort Inn, Priddy
PRN 24045 Priddy circle, SW of Castle of Comfort Inn, Priddy
Grid Ref: ST 5395 5255 (ST 55 SW) ST 5401 5279 (ST 55 SW) ST 5409 5302 (ST 55 SW) ST 5421 5355 (ST 55 SW)
Show location (Requires Flash)
Public access:
The public accessibility of this site is unknown but it should be visible from a public right of way. Please assume that the site is private property. [Information last updated on 02 September 2003]
Details:
Priddy Circles are four circular banks with diameters ranging from 490ft to 560ft in diameter, each with an outer ditch. The circles are arranged NNE almost in a straight line, extending over three quarters of a mile. The circles are regarded as being Neolithic. The three southernmost circles are closely grouped, see PRNs 24042, 24043 and 24045. The northern most circle (PRN 24046) is separated from the others by a Roman road (PRN 25357).
Excavations during 1956 in the NW quadrant of the southernmost circle (PRN 24042) revealed that the bank had a stone core with a ring of post-holes on each side. Two posts had been of 8" diameter and about 10ft high with stakes between them, apparently erected prior to the ditch, whose up cast was added to the bank - probably leaving the posts projecting at least 4-6ft above the earth top. The central area was found to be devoid of any features. A causewayed entrance was provided in the NNE sector, and indicators of entrances noted for the other circles. {1}
All four of the circles are Scheduled Monuments.
A geophysical survey between the three southern circles and the northern circle and on the outer earthworks of the two southernmost henge's revealed no features, see PRN 90072.
Surrounding the circles are a number of Bronze Age barrows, see PRN 23812 for the largest group, the Ashen Hill Barrow cemetery to the south. {2}
References:
1 Detailed records - Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division record card ST55SW4 (1963)
2 Personal communication - Matthew Nicholas, Somerset County Council (2/9/2003)
