1. The finds at Llyn Cerrig Bach are the most important British example of a phenomenon well known on the Continent and described by Caesar - a sacred lake in which the spoils of war were thrown by the Celts as offerings to their gods.

Discovered in 1942, the finds are primarily military and included eleven swords, eight spearheads and parts of a parade shield. Equipment from several chariots were also present, both the harness and parts of the structure. Up to 22 chariots can be recognised from the wheels discovered, but this might indicate the offering of wheels alone (which are known to have been sacred to one of the Celtic gods) rather than complete vehicles. Some items were locally manufactured, a few came from Ireland but a great many originated from southern England; a possible sign of trade, plunder captured from war or suggestive that the lake was more than a shrine of local importance.

The dates of the finds are also of interest. Some of the swords are of types current in the 2nd century BC, others are of later designs, but nothing later than AD 60 can be identified. This suggests that the lake developed its importance in the latter half of the Iron Age, and it was the Roman invasion of Anglesey in AD 60 that put a stop to the flow of offerings.
20 August 2008, RCAHMW.

2. 'The Llyn Cerrig Bach assemblage is one of the most important collections of La Tene metalwork discovered in the British Isles. It came to light during construction work in 1942 at RAF Valley in north-west Anglesey when it was disturbed during the extraction of peat from the Cors yr Ynys bog located on the southern margin of Llyn Cerrig Bach. A total of 180 iron and copper allow artefacts are known to have been recovered from the airfield, of which all but four are now in the collection of the National Museum of Wales (Macdonald 2007, 1).

3. The finds are newly displayed from 2018 in the refurbished galleries of St Fagans National History Museum.

T. Driver, RCAHMW, 2019

Main sources:

Lynch, F. 1995. A Guide to Ancient and Historic Gwynedd, Cadw/HMSO

Macdonald, P. 2007. Llyn Cerrig Bach. A study of the copper allow artefacts from the insular La Tene assemblage. University of Wales Press. Cardiff

Steele, P. 2012. Llyn Cerrig Bach, Treasure from the Iron Age. Oriel Ynys Mon/Llyfrau Magma. Llangefni.