Torque (torc) Viking silver torque from Cumbria

Object number

LDSAL366.1

Production date

10th century

Production place

Cumbria

Material

silver

Dimensions

diameter: 147mm

Location

Burlington House -

Associated place

Orton Scar
Westmoreland

Object history note

Silver torque. Viking 10th c. found with penannular brooch at Orton Scar, Westmorland, 1847. Gift of T. Reveley, Esq. 1851. Archaeologia 34, Pl. 38, 446; Proceedings (1st Series) II, 166. (Beatrice de Cardi addition to Albert Way's 1847 Catalogue)

References

Reference (free text)

David Gaimster, Sarah McCarthy, and Bernard Nurse, eds., Making History, Antiquaries in Britain, 1707-2007 (London: Royal Academy of Arts, 2007), p. 118, no. 81.Illustration, p. 118.

Silver Viking torc (torque) from 10th century found with penannular brooch at Orton Scar, Westmorland, 1847.

This silver torc was found with a penannular brooch in a crevice of limestone rock at Orton Scar, 1847, by a labourer while quarrying gate-posts. Mystery remains over their deposition. Were they worn as ornaments or carried as portable bullion?