Gold Disk from a Reel in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 2010

Gold Disk from a Reel
Bronze Age, found in Enniscorthy, southeastern Ireland
Made about 800 BC

Accession # 47.100.14

Ireland experienced a period of resurgence in the production of goldwork during the late Bronze Age. Numerous objects noteworthy for their gold content, innovative forms, and sophisticated decoration still survive. Alongside such objects of personal adornment such as gold collars, craftsmen produced rings, cylindrical boxes, and spools or bobbins, which were probably created for purely votive or ritual purposes.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.