What was a Gleninsheen gorget made of?
The Gleninsheen gorget (catalogued as NMI W21) is a late Bronze Age collar, found in 1930 in the Gleninsheen region of the Burren, County Clare, Ireland. Given that the gorget (a type of large necklace) is made from gold and weighs 276 g (8.9 ozt) it must have been intended as an ornament for a high-ranking warrior.
How was a gorget made?
Crafting the Gorget They heated up their chosen rock with fire and then threw cold water on it to make it shatter. They then broke it down further and smelted the fragments to release the molten metal. The molten metal was poured into moulds and then hammered into the desired shapes and parts.
Did the Irish wear Torcs?
Both men and women wore them. Small torcs were sometimes worn by noble children, and they were nearly always passed down through generations. It’s a well known fact that Celtic warriors went to battle completely naked except for a torc around their neck and whatever weapons they were carrying.
Where was the Gleninsheen gorget found?
The gorget was found in the Burren, Co. Clare. It can now be viewed at the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin.
What are metal gorgets?
A gorget is a metal neck piece, lunette or crescent-shaped, usually made of silver or gilded brass. Originally a piece of steel armor for protecting the throat, gorgets had by the middle of the 17th century changed in shape and use until they were no longer functional as protective coverings.
What is a humpback gorget?
Humped gorgets are rare artifacts which probably date to the Glacial Kame culture of 4,000 years before present. Many humped gorgets are made of banded slate, but raw materials also in- clude dense black slate, quartzite, and siltstone.
What does a Torc symbolize?
The Torc (also spelled Torque), or neck ring, was an important piece of Celtic jewelry, and was worn from before 1200 BC to as late as 600 AD. It was a powerful symbol, perhaps representing the wearer’s free-born status, and was often complemented with additional rings worn about the arms and wrists.
Where is Broighter collar from?
Derry
The most sumptuous Irish Iron Age gold collar was found in a hoard of gold objects close to the ancient shore of Lough Foyle at Broighter, Co. Derry.
What is a fibula Bronze Age?
A fibula is a dress fastener with two cup shaped discs connected by a bow. The gold fibula found at Clones, Co. Monaghan is decorated with small concentric circles incised into the surface of the discs. This is an elaborate semi-circular collars with a gold disc at each end.
What kind of ornament is on a Broighter Collar?
The large tubular neck ornament has buffer-terminals and is decorated on the ring with raised and incised ornament. Stylised bird and horse motifs are present on the raised ornament which is accentuated by incised concentric arcs on the background. The terminals are fitted with a mortise and tenon device that fastened the collar.
What kind of art is the Broighter Boat?
The Broighter Boat and Broighter Collar are famous irish prehistoric artworks. The boat is very unusual for Iron Age Art in that it is not abstract- it is a beautiful representation of a prehistoric boat complete with mast and oars. The collar is one of the finest examples of la Tene metal craftmanship in Europe.
What kind of metal is the Broighter Hoard made of?
The Broighter hoard is constructed entirely from gold, all with the same metallurgical character. The styles and decorations vary significantly between each item of the hoard so it is thought that some pieces may have been imported. It is also entirely likely that some of the items have been modified or completely melted down and remade.
Where was the Broighter Hoard found in Ireland?
The Broighter Hoard is probably the greatest find of ancient artifacts in Ireland. It was uncovered in Co Derry in 1896, when land near the shores of Lough Foyle were being ploughed. The “ hoard’ consists of a model boat with oars and mast, a bowl, two chain necklaces, two rod twisted torcs and a hollow collar.