Tal-y-Llyn Iron Age Hoard | Forum — The Modern Antiquarian

GLADMAN Jan 20, 2013 20:44:33

Having been somewhat blown away by the sheer artistic quality of the stuff in this hoard I just wanted to ask if anyone has further information on the find location. OK, it's known as the 'Tal-y-Llyn Hoard', but my old copy of 'Celtic Britain' by Lloyd Laing states 'came to light in June 1963 on the slopes of Nant Cader... overlooking Tal-y-Llyn Lake'. I place that somewhere beside the outflow of Llyn Cau, the Nant Cadair? My own googling isn't the best, to be fair.

It's superb that stuff like this survives in our museums for all to see.... but I reckon appreciating the landscape that inspired it - even making a field trip, perhaps - can only add to the experience.

thesweetcheat Jan 20, 2013 20:58:54

Replying to GLADMAN

Had a look at "Prehistoric Wales" (Frances Lynch et al, Sutton Publishing 2000), which contains some lovely line drawings of the IA finds from Tal-y-Llyn. Sadly, the book doesn't refer to the circumstances of the find at all, but does mention that its dating has been controversial, due to the presence of some Roman material with the IA stuff. There may be something referred to in the bibliography that might help.

tiompan Jan 20, 2013 23:20:41

Replying to GLADMAN

The source of the Nat Cadair may be Llyn Cau but it is marked further east giving the possibility of a more northerly source . The find spot was supposedly west of the Nant Cadair ,I doubt they want detectorists and just keep quiet about the actual spot , it's certainly not on Coflein .

thesweetcheat Jan 21, 2013 17:44:05

Replying to GLADMAN

http://penybonthotel.wordpress.com/2012/02/28/treasure-the-tal-y-llyn-hoard/

A bit closer to a description of the site, maybe:

In June 1963 remarkable Bronze shield decorations were found on the southern slopes of Cadair Idris. The location was about 800 feet above the valley floor to one side of the well known walker’s route, the Minfordd Path. The thin sheets of broken metal were packed together as if originally in a bundle and were half- buried in soil beneath a projecting boulder.

Perhaps we should stop there, don't want to be doing the MDers' work for them!