Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 3.djvu/44

30 A torques found on the Polden hills, Somersetshire, much resembles the annular, although it is strictly funicular, consisting of an iron ring, round which were twisted five bronze wires. It was found with ornaments, probably Anglo-Saxon.

Solid torques. The form of the solid torques differs considerably from the funicular or twisted type, and may be considered more recent than the earliest funicular type, from its not appearing on the earliest monuments, and its occasionally presenting traces of funicular origin, and also its decoration with ornament, which are wanting in the funicular type.

The solid torques is generally an incomplete ring, and seems to be the type alluded to by Polybius under the name of, who aptly designates it a or golden armlet, and by Diodorus as , "the thick solid gold circlets" of the Gauls. It is the mun-torc of the Celts. Its earliest appearance in art is upon the uncertain Gaulish coins, but it has been always found amidst remains of an unequivocally Celtic origin, both in this country and elsewhere. It is generally elliptical. The open part was placed towards the neck in front. The ornaments are of the simplest description, engraved on the body and edges in outline, and generally consisting of lines concentric to the axis of the ornament, and vandyked lines at the edge. They have been occasionally found with dots, and the ends occasionally with a kind of cross and pellet in each quarter.

They do not appear to have been found in this country, but occasionally occur in the sister kingdom. The greatest discovery made of them was at St. Quentin, near Karnak, in Bretagne, under an upright stone of a semicircular druidical temple, where torques and bracelets to the amount of above a thousand pounds were obtained. From the immense amount found they are supposed to have been the national religious or sepulchral deposit of some tribe, for one alone, as Mr. Deane