Having identified an area he considered to be of good potential, Booth obtained the landowner's permission to search on his land.

[6] Dr Fraser Hunter said he "almost fell off [his] seat" when he first saw photographs of the discovery the next morning, and members of staff had arrived at the site within three hours.

[6] Subsequent archaeological investigations determined that the torcs had originally been buried within a roundhouse, a prehistoric circular building.

[4] All four torcs date to between 300 and 100 BC, they are highly and unexpectedly varied in form and style which greatly adds to the significance of the find.

Two twisted ribbon torcs (numbered 1–2 in the photo of the display), in perfect condition, are elegant and relatively simple in design.

They are fashioned from a flat strip of gold which has then been twisted, and represent a local style of jewellery, originating equally from Scotland and Ireland, and going back to the Late Bronze Age.

It is of ornate design compared to the ribbon torcs, and experts have identified it as a type originating from the Toulouse area in southern France.

[4] This might have been made for a local chieftain by a craftsman who had learned his craft in the Mediterranean region, and with the third torc suggests significant links between Scotland and Southern Europe.