異域文化 其他文化 In Search of Irish Gold 尋找愛爾蘭金庫

The ancient landscape of Ireland is steeped in myths and legends. Some go back 3000 years into the mystery of its Bronze Age people. They left behind hoards of extraordinary work in gold. But nobody knows where they found the precious metal to work with. Somewhere in this landscape, was there a secret source of Bronze Age gold? A hidden mine? I've come to Ireland in search of a lost Eldorado.

For me the mystery of Bronze Age gold begins here at a place called Moher. Back in 1854, they were excavating a railway here, between Limerick and Ennis, when they found something quite extraordinary, just up here.

Just about here, their digging revealed a box, covered in rocks. Inside there was a most fantastic hoard of treasure, hundreds of bracelets and necklaces, all solid gold. Now some of them regrettably but understandably disappeared in workmen's wheelbarrows, but some remains. And this is just one of many such hoards across Ireland.

No one is sure why Bronze Age people buried so much gold, though many people believe they were offerings of appeasement to the gods. I had to see the gold for myself. So I went to the National Museum in Dublin. There I met the curator of the ancient treasure --Mary Carhill.

So this is the Moher hoard.

I mean it's a staggering quantity of material.

Yes, it is the biggest hoard of gold ever found in Ireland, and it must have been an amazing sight for the railway workers who found it to actually see it there in the ground, hundreds of objects --bracelets and neck ornaments, these collars which you see here, just piled together in one place.

The collection of ancient Irish gold here is quite spectacular. We can only imagine what the elite of Bronze Age society looked like when adorned with the elaborate objects that'd been unearthed. Mary took me to a secure backroom to see some of the most precious objects.

Goddess

Words and Phrases

Eldorado: (n.) an imaginary place of great wealth and opportunity; sought in South America by 16th-century explorers <西>理想中的黃金國

wheelbarrow: (n.) A one- or two-wheeled vehicle with handles at the rear, used to convey small loads. 手推車