The process of making this flanged torc involves closely and regularly twisting
four-flanged square or rectangular-sectioned bars of gold. The edges of the
flanges are slightly flattened at the angles of the bar. On one end, a short
cylindrical bar is bent back 180 degrees and leads to an elongated cone-shaped
terminal. The cone terminal is narrow where it attaches to the disc and expands
at the end to form a flat base. On the other end of the torc, a long, thin,
spiraled gold rod ends in another cone-shaped terminal.
According to archaeologist Wilde, a young peasant boy found this torc, along with another flanged gold torc, in 1810. The hoard was in close proximity to Druid monuments. In his entry for the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition catalog entitled Treasures of Early Irish Art, Mitchell claims that the torcs were found in 1830.
The concept of twisted neck
rings spread to Britain and Ireland circa 1200 BCE from central Europe. Historians
believe that the technique originated in Asia. In comparison to other bar-twisted
torcs, both objects found in Tara are more elaborate because their unique terminals
expand out of the actual ring. Because the torcs are larger than most neck rings,
they may have been used to encircle the waist.
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