... torc's have been made since pre-Christian Celtic times .... Couldn't find any reference to American Indian artifacs being called torc's but they did love their "bling" .... even sewed holed silver or gold coins to their garments since coins meant nothing to them except as attractive ornimatation.
Would your find have fit a man's or woman's neck? That's really a neat find.
Here's what came up on google:
A torc, also spelled torq or torque (in Latin torques, from torqueo, to twist, because of the twisted shape of the collar), is a rigid circular necklace that is open-ended at the front. The ends of ancient torcs typically bore sculpted ornaments, frequently globes, cubes, or animal heads, and less commonly human figures. The body of the necklace was usually but not always wrapped. Although they were most often neck-rings, there were also bracelets with this shape. Torcs were made from intertwined metal strands, usually gold or bronze, less often silver.
"Torc" is the ancient Irish for "boar", similar to the gaulish "torcos". A relation could be made with the sacred value of the animal in celtic mythology suggesting a sort of equivalence between the necklace and the animal symbol of death and revival.
