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FINGER RING
Unique ID: PUBLIC-490107
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation 
A fragment of a cast copper-alloy Roman finger ring of snake type. The fragment of the ring consists of the upper decorative portion of the ring, which is thicker than the remains of the shoulders; the band of the ring is missing. The ring is decorated with a slightly domed 'head' followed by two horizontal incised lines. Further decoration is obscured due to wear, but there seems to be a two incised lines following the inner and outer perimeter of the ring. It is likely that this domed decoration and incised lines was meant to imitate the head of a snake, a popular motif during this period and often stylised. The ring has an overal dark green patina. It measures 20.1 mm long, 11.1 mm wide at top, 4.1 mm thick at top, 1.7 mm thick at band and weighs 3.3 grams.
Hobbs and Jackson (2010) date the appearance of snake rings in Britain to between first and second centuries AD, however they continue in use until later Roman periods. For similar PAS database records, cf.:SUR-129E52 and CAMHER-989D15
Class: Snake
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: In a private collection, recorded for academic use
Chronology
Broad period: ROMAN
Period from: ROMAN
Date from: Circa AD 43
Date to: Circa AD 410
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 19.92 mm
Width: 11.19 mm
Thickness: 3.79 mm
Weight: 3.3 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Saturday 1st December 2012
Personal details
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Other reference numbers
Other reference: No MD number
Materials and construction
Primary material: Copper alloy
Manufacture method: Cast
Completeness: Fragment
Spatial metadata
Region: South East (European Region)County or Unitary authority: West Sussex (County)
District: Horsham (District)
Parish or ward: Slinfold (Civil Parish)
Spatial coordinates
4 Figure: TQ1132
Four figure Latitude: 51.07659889
Four figure longitude: -0.41688909
1:25K map: TQ1132
1:10K map: TQ13SW
Grid reference source: From finder
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 100 metre square.
References cited
No references cited so far.
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Timeline of associated dates
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