from the Yorkshire evening post..............................
Natalie McCaul, assistant curator of archaeology at the Yorkshire Museum, with the two gold bracelet
A museum launched an appeal today to raise £60,000 to buy the first Iron Age jewellery to be found in the north of England.
The two gold bracelets are thought to be more than 2,000 years old and were found by treasure hunters in a stream bed near Towton, North Yorkshire.
They are the first examples of gold being worn as jewellery in the north of England and will go on temporary display at the Yorkshire Museum, which is now appealing to the public to try to raise the funds to keep the bracelets.
The first bracelet, which has been dated to 100BC to 70BC and was found in May 2010, has been declared treasure by the coroner.
An inquest into the second, which could be older still and was found within metres of the first in April 2011, will be held in the next few months.
Before these finds the furthest north a torc had been found was in Newark, in Nottinghamshire.
The bracelets, which are made of two gold wires twisted together and are known as torcs, were found by metal detector enthusiasts Andrew Green and Shaun Scott.
They are made entirely of gold and are thought to have belonged to an extremely wealthy, possibly royal, member of the Brigantes tribe, which ruled most of North Yorkshire during the Iron Age.
They are similar in appearance to torcs found in the Snettisham Hoard, in Norfolk, which were thought to have been royal treasure belonging to the Iceni tribe, raising the possibility that the bracelets were spoils of war, a gift or used in trade between the Brigantes and the Iceni tribes.
Items like these are usually found in hoards and have no history of being found in water, leading experts to believe they may have been washed away from a burial site.
Natalie McCaul, assistant curator of archaeology at the Yorkshire Museum, said: “These are stunning finds and have made archaeologists and historians think again about what life was like in Yorkshire 2,000 years ago.
“Until now no-one had evidence of gold being worn as jewellery at this time in the north of England. For one it shows that there was serious wealth here before the Romans, something which until now we could only speculate.
“We hope we can now raise the money needed to make sure they stay in Yorkshire for people to enjoy.”
The torcs will be on show at the Yorkshire Museum from today until January 31.
Visitors to the museum will be able to donate to the appeal to raise the £60,000 needed to keep the bracelets or go to
www.yorkshiremuseum.org.uk for information on how to donate online.
