On August 29, Sergio Narciandi, a municipal water operator, was checking some pipelines that crossed a steep slope in the area of Cavandi (Asturias) when under his feet he found something that shone. She picked him up, called the Civil Guard, who recommended she notify the authorities. Shortly after, María Antonia Pedregal and Ángel Villa, from Archaeological Museum of Asturias, and the professor of Prehistory at the University of Cantabria, Pablo Arias Cabal, appeared at the scene. Upon quick inspection, they found a second gold torc fragmented into six parts. “This discovery is very important because, for the first time, we know the exact origin of two of these valuable objects, the maximum symbol of prestige for pre-Roman communities, and the context in which they were deposited; which will allow us to solve many enigmas about which we were missing data. It is a window that has been opened to a part of the history of the Iron Age that has until now been banned. [siglos V al II a. C.]”say research sources.
The torcs were prestigious necklaces, usually made of noble materials, that best represented the goldsmith idiosyncrasy of the people of the Iron Age in the Iberian Peninsula (IX-I BC) and that received this name due to their twisted shape. . They are rigid and round and were used by the Celtic and Germanic peoples of the Iron Age (second half of the First Millennium BC). Ángel Villa, an expert at the Archaeological Museum of Asturias, explains that, with the recovery of the pieces, their status as valuable pieces does not reside in their magnificent and rich elaboration, but in their quality as a historical document and instrument “to bring us closer to the knowledge of this era.” , its technology, its customs, its cultural roots and its social organization.”
“In both pieces, all the techniques of Antiquity used by a goldsmith of extraordinary skill are concentrated: casting, filigree, graining and welding, combined with aesthetic and geometric motifs and styles, which now allows us to delve into the aspects such as the dispersal of other pieces of which we were not sure of their real origin,” they explain.
The first of the specimens, the one located by the water company worker, is a rigid necklace with a golden surface that can be assimilated to the set of torcs generically called Astur-Galic, characterized by rods with finials and decorations that develop motifs. geometric ornamental. Experts highlight the actions of the discoverer, who gave immediate notice of the discovery of the pieces, without modifying the location and thus allowing researchers to recover all possible information.
The second piece, which was found fragmented into six parts, has been provisionally recovered in the Archaeological Museum of Asturias, and it has been verified that it is complete. It is a rigid necklace with a golden surface with a rectangular section hoop finished with heads.
The pieces were not found accompanied by other archaeological elements, although they could have been inside a wooden box or a bag. “What is the reason that justified the deposit? What encouraged the guy to leave this in the bush? We must reflect, study the archaeological context, its environment and begin work that has a fundamental analytical part, which must be developed in at least a year or a year and a half in a calm manner,” the researchers point out.
The archaeologists currently analyzing the pieces highlight, from the outset, “the enormous skill of the goldsmith, spectacular.” “He is now beginning fundamental analytical work. The pieces may be intended to represent an accumulation of community wealth, not that of an individual. We do not know. Not even if they were for men or women,” although they were usually used by warriors.
To find an answer, the team of experts (among them, Esperanza Martín, Ignacio Montero, Inés Sastre, Almudena Oreja, Óscar García Vuelta, Alicia Perea) have just over a year. “The discovery cannot be understood in the way it was understood centuries ago, a mere treasure for display, despite its spectacular nature, but rather as a window to knowledge of a history that until now was forbidden to us,” they reflect. María Antonia Pedregal Montes, director of the Archaeological Museum of Asturias, concludes: “A multidisciplinary team will be created, the best in the Iron Age, with experts from various national institutions.”
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