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Wednesday, 21st April 2004 (5037 views)

An East Anglian metal detecting enthusiast has unearthed a priceless piece of historic gold. <BR/><BR/>The two-inch gold and silver terminal ring is part of an elaborate gold torc necklace which was lost after the rest of the torc was discovered in 1965. The torc, believed to have once belonged to the warrior queen Boudicca, forms an integral part of the Iron Age Collection at the British Museum.<BR/><BR/>The lost piece was discovered by Steve Hammond, a retired chemist, who was surveying fields on the Sedgeford Hall Estate in Norfolk with a team from the Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project, less than half a mile from the site of the original find.<BR/><BR/>Mr Hammond, 65, said: "As soon as I cleaned some of the mud off, I realised it was the end of a torc, but I did not know the other half was in the British Museum. I did not realise how significant it was until I showed it to the site manager, who was gobsmacked. I have found a George II gold sovereign before but nothing as exciting as this."<BR/><BR/>Chris Mackie, the Sedgeford archaeology project's co-director, added: "We never in our wildest dreams thought that we would really come across the thing."<BR/><BR/>The 2,000-year-old heavy gold ring has now been matched by experts to the original torc. It is believed to have been buried by Boudicca's Iceni tribe to stop it being stolen by the invading Romans. <BR/><BR/>Norfolk was the heartland of the Iceni tribe. Since 1948 hoards of treasure containing 180 similar torcs and nearly 300 rings, bracelets and coins have been discovered in the area around Sedgeford.

 

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