- Chapter Sixteen -
of rather thick sheet-metal, as thick as, or thicker than the bronze sheet they would
have known. The same solidity applies to the wires and bars used for the wide variety
of twisted torque bodies. The most elaborate show great inventiveness in creating
different, regularly patterned, surface textures from twisting and bundling the wires
in different ways. The Snettisham smiths seem to have had casting-on as their only
technique for joining terminals to torques, or for adding extra decorative elements.
This last is plainly exhibited in the Ipswich torques, where the decoration has been
applied to plain torque terminals by building up a wax model on the surface and
casting on more gold alloy (Brailsford and Stapley 1972).
These torques contrast strongly with the tubular torques in the same treasure
which are typical members of the continental class reviewed earlier (Eluere 1 987b)
and exhibit the same, more delicate techniques. It was possible for such torques to
be altered locally, as with the redesign of the body of the Broighter torque, but the
Snettisham examples are largely unaltered. Several, as at Snettisham, are deposited in
close association with gold coins. There are other possible imports at Snettisham,
for example the torques with square-section wires and mercury-gilt terminals.
Wires with non-circular cross-sections appear not to be native to the Snettisham
tradition, and where the technique of mercury gilding was acquired is not known
(Stone 1987; Stead 1991). Indeed, the Snettisham material represents some of the
earliest dated mercury gilding in the west so that pursuing its antecedents will be
of great interest.
The alloys used in the Snettisham workshops tell us a great deal about the way in
which the smiths understood the properties of gold-silver-copper alloys, and also
about the effects of the political and economic events of the first century Be
(Northover 1992). The tubular torques and some of the finest quality torques and
bracelets of other types use the same range of natural golds with a small percentage
of copper that appear in continental La Tene pieces. From this starting-point the rest
of the gold alloy material is increasingly debased until a point is reached where gold
has effectively disappeared from the alloy. Down to 25-30 per cent gold, a consistent
path is followed, with a 65 per cent silver to 35 per cent copper alloy being added;
the resulting ternary alloys will be close to the minimum melting-point for a given
gold content and the colour change from yellow to white gold is retarded. The same
process was followed in the Gallo-Belgic (Ambiani) coinage which was both the
inspiration and a major source of bullion for the British Celtic coinage. This
imported bullion was recycled into the British coinage without being re-refined so it
too exhibits the same debasement process, and it is reasonable to conclude that the
same bullion sources supplied the Snettisham smiths (the Snettisham area is host to
a number of important Celtic coin hoards). This conclusion is reinforced by the fact
that many of the smaller Snettisham items, such as rings and 'ingot' bracelets, are
exact multiples of coin weights.
The continued debasement of these gold alloys beyond the 25-30 per cent level
indicates that the available gold supply was finite, and decreasing as more was taken
out of circulation by the creation and deposition of new objects. The most likely
cause for this disruption of the gold supply is the final conquest of Gaul by Rome
and the consequent suppression of the Gallic gold coinage and the cutting off of
Gallic purchases of British assistance. Within the Snettisham treasure and other