Bronze Age Gold from Wales
Bronze Age gold jewellery fragment
This is a small fragment of a strip of gold, flattened at one end into an expanded bent-back terminal, while the opposite end represents a broken and twisted strip. This may represent the terminal fragment of a ribbon torc.
The form of the bracelets in this hoard is very unusual, with no parallels known at the time of discovery. Since discovery, another comparable example is now known from the Maesmelan hoard, Powys. Comparisons have been drawn with Irish ribbed sheet bracelets, though the Capel Isaf form may represent an insular production. This is supported further by the high silver content of one of the bracelets, which may be more in keeping with Welsh gold sources, rather than Irish sources.
Project Title: Gold in Britain’s auriferous regions, 2450-800 BC: towards a coherent Research Framework and Strategy. Status: Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Network Grant funded project (2018-2019)
WA_SC 18.1
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Site Name: Capel Isaf House, Manordeilo
Notes: Hoard. Four gold armlets and one gold fragment were found in September 1975 near the town of Llandeilo while excavating a sewer trench. The objects were apparently “wrapped round each other” and were probably buried beneath a large glacial erratic slab. This slab may have acted as a marker in prehistory.
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