Moulsford Torc (1st torc)
Late Middle Bronze Age, about 1200BC
The first Moulsford Torc
This gold torc or neck ornament was found in April 1960 when a rotary cultivator was being used in a ploughed field near Moulsford, then in Berkshire, now Oxfordshire. Dating from the late Middle Bronze Age – about 1200BC – the torc would have belonged to an important person, and probably symbolised wealth and power. Archaeologists from the Museum have investigated the site, but why the original owner lost the torc here remains a mystery.
The torc consists of four bars of gold alloy, spirally twisted, and all bound together in one place by a piece of thinner gold bar. The binding strip was probably one of a pair: the missing one has been reconstructed. At either end the four bars were inserted into a conical gold terminal decorated with hatched bands and triangles. When found, the torc was slightly bent, but it has been restored to its original shape. It seems to have been made from a number of pieces of a naturally occurring gold alloy, which has been found to contain some other metals, principally silver and copper.
After its discovery the torc was declared not to be treasure trove, on the grounds that it must have been a casual loss. It was offered on generous terms to Reading Museum by the landowner and was purchased with the help of the National Art Collections Fund, Victoria & Albert Museum and Berkshire County Council.
In 2001 a second undecorated late Bronze Age gold torc was found not far from the findspot of the first torc, and was also acquired by the Museum (see related object link below).
Museum object number