2,500-Year-Old Gold Necklace Discovered by a Water Worker in Spain, Probably Made by Celtics and Buried as Part of a Hoard

Two gold necklaces dating from around 2,500 years ago have been found by chance in northwestern Spain. The richly decorated items were unearthed by a waste worker for a local water company.

Buried Treasures in a Hoard

Segio Narciandi was working for a water supply company tasked with finding a water source in the town of Cavandi in Peñamellera Baja of Asturias province, a mountainous autonomous community in Spain. On August 29, he spotted a C-shaped gold necklace concealed among rocks on a hillside.

Marciandi contacted archaeologist Pablo Arias from the prehistoric archaeology department at the University of Cantabria who traveled to the site along with experts from the Asturias Archeological Museum. Upon further investigation, the team uncovered a second necklace which had been broken into several pieces.

Recent fires in the area caused a small landslide which shifted the soil toward the spring, exposing the gold necklaces. Initial inspection of the items based on style and technique revealed that these necklaces date around 500 B.C. during the Iron Age of Iberia, currently Spain and Portugal. The ancient pieces of jewelry were likely worn by upper-class members of the society.

These types of thick neckwear are known as torques (or torcs), from the Latin word "torqueo" which literally means "to twist." They reflect not only their often coiling shapes, but also the way in which these types of neckwear were crafted.

Similar jewelry items weighing more than 2.2 pounds (1 kilogram) were found in the Iberian Peninsula, the heaviest being nearly 4 pounds (1.812 kilograms) discovered in northwestern Iberia. The weights of the necklaces found in Asturias have not yet been reported, although they have similar artistry among the Iberian finds.

Experts believe that the newfound necklaces were made by the Celtic people who crafts the items from central rods with wound gold spirals. According to Arias, the jewelry items were probably part of a hoard, a practice of hiding valuable objects which was very frequent in Atlantic Europe during the Bronze and Iron Ages.

Arias also noted that the archeological importance of a discovery lies more in the context than in the item itself. For instance, the context surrounding the necklaces in Asturias can shed light on the society, culture, and craftsmanship of the Iron Age period, which can be of greater importance than the gold necklaces themselves.

Celtic Torcs: Jewel of the Iron Age

About 2,000 years ago, Celtic tribes spread across regions in Europe from Ireland to Spain, and all over France, Hungary, the Alps and Britain. They are known for making objects with decorative art style such as bracelets and torcs.

In ancient Celtic cultures, torcs were a common type of jewelry in the form of a neck ring made from gold, silver, bronze, and copper. The torcs are designed either with smooth, hollow, or twisted bands. The bands could be twisted around themselves or spiraled around a core of iron or even wood. To give the torcs extra shine, the mercury gilding technique is used, leaving a pure gold surface after evaporating mercury under heat.

Celtic torcs are not just exquisite works of Celtic art, but they also identified the wearer's social status. Celtic metalsmiths were expert craftsmen, and the creation of their torcs are evidence of their expertise in the art of jewelry making.