Rights Holder: Durham County Council
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Unique ID: DUR-92E7D2
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Published
A complete finger-ring made of gold wire with a circular cross-section measuring roughly 1.5mm in diameter. The bezel has been made by twisting the wire to form a row of three large and loose figures-of-eight, and then the ends of the wire have been wrapped several times around the shoulders. The wire is not otherwise decorated. The ring is in good condition, although both the hoop and bezel have been bent in several places. It weighs 6.9g and measures 24.56mm in diameter; the thickness of the hoop ranges between 1.49mm and 1.68mm.
A very similar example in copper alloy can be found in MacGregor and Bolick 1993, no. 27.20, found in Ixworth churchyard, Suffolk. Although not from a secure context, it has similarities with a group of coiled spiral-bezel rings well known from early Anglo-Saxon graves of the sixth and seventh centuries, mostly in Kent; good examples come from Buckland Dover (Evison 1987, grave F; Parfitt and Anderson 2012, graves 250 and 298) and Finglesham (Hawkes and Grainger 2006, grave 58).
Update: another copper-alloy example was found in pre-14th-century topsoil at the site of Middleborough, Colchester (Crummy 1983, no. 1757). Guiraud, in her study of Roman finger-rings from Gaul, illustrates a very similar example as part of her Type 6 (1988, fig. 37, no. 6e). It is therefore difficult to assign a date to it, beyond the range of Roman to early early-medieval.
Notes:
The object fulfils the Treasure Act (1996) in that it is more than 300 years old and has a precious metal content exceeding 10%.
Valued by the Treasure Valuation Committee (17/12/14) at £1,500.
Current location of find: Preston Hall
Subsequent action after recording: Acquired by museum after being declared Treasure
Treasure case tracking number: 2012T536
Broad period: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Period from: ROMAN
Subperiod to: Early
Period to: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 50
Date to: Circa AD 700
Quantity: 1
Thickness: 1.68 mm
Weight: 6.9 g
Diameter: 24.56 mm
Date(s) of discovery: Sunday 29th July 2012
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Treasure case number: 2012T536
Grid reference source: From a paper map
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 100 metre square.
Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MacGregor, A. and Bolick, E. | 1993 | A summary catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon collections (non-ferrous metals), Ashmolean Museum, Oxford | Oxford | Tempvs Reparatum | 172 | 27.20 and 27.21 | |
Parfitt, K. and Anderson, T | 2012 | Buckland Anglo-Saxon Cemetery, Dover: Excavations 1994 | Canterbury | Canterbury Archaeological Trust |