Art of the bronze age: drape of the Mold

In 1833, a gold artifact was found in North Wales – a pectoral from Mold. The object was created in 1900-1650 BC and is a striking example of Bronze Age art. Historians believe that this pectoral is an element of ancient ceremonial clothing. The population of Britain at that time, as well as the whole of Northern Europe, worshipped the sun.


The pectoral was located in a burial mound for centuries and was discovered by workers. It was worn by a buried man. The presence of an amber bead in the grave (initially there were 200-300 of them), which decorated the object, suggests that the vestment belonged to a servant of the cult of the Sun. Amber is still called the sunstone. This is the only surviving item of vestments from the burial. By analogy with the European conical ritual headdresses of the sun worshippers of that time, we can assume that the same headdress was present in our case. Most likely, ritual objects made of gold covered other parts of the body. It remains only to imagine how bright the gold-clad priest looked shining in the sun during the rituals.



The width of the artifact is 458 mm, and it was damaged when it was found. The lining was rotten, so the parts of the pectoral were separated. When the find was brought to the British Museum, experts began to restore it. In the following years, it was supplemented with small fragments discovered later. The appearance of the pectorale from Mold speaks of the influence of local (island) and continental traditions. Similar decorative elements are found on other artefacts of the period, in particular, on the cup of Rongeres (Rongères), discovered in France. In addition, a similar motif was often used in Scotland. The pectoral was one of the last major finds of the second millennium BC, made of gold leaf. Subsequent gold products become more massive.