Rights Holder: St. Albans District Council
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Unique ID: BH-1237F3
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation
A copper-alloy twisted wire finger-ring of probable early Roman date.
The ring has been made from a single length of low diameter wire. The hoop consists of a single strand, to form the shoulders the wire has been wound into tight spirals, while the bezel comprises a pair of interlaced loops. The rings is bent and corroded. It measures 21.3mm wide, 17.2mm deep (bezel to back of hoop) and 3.8mm high at the bezel. The weight is 1g.
A similar ring was found in excavations in Colchester (see Crummy 1983: p. 47/fig. 50, no. 1756), in a layer dating from AD c. 49 and c. 55. Crummy suggests that the style of the Colchester example exhibits a continuation of native, pre-Roman traits. However, several twisted wire rings were also found at Wanborough, Wiltshire (Anderson et al. 2001: 92), and the cited parallels for these rings range widely in date, from 2nd to 4th century. A broad date range is therefore suggested for this example.
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Broad period: ROMAN
Period from: ROMAN
Date from: Circa AD 1
Date to: Circa AD 410
Quantity: 1
Length: 17.2 mm
Width: 21.3 mm
Thickness: 3.8 mm
Weight: 1 g
Date(s) of discovery: Saturday 2nd October 2010
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Other reference: Ver 10/160 - 14
Primary material: Copper alloy
Manufacture method: Hand made
Completeness: Complete
Grid reference source: Centred on parish
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 100 metre square.
Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Anderson, A.S., Wacher, J.S. and Fitzpatrick, A.P. | 2001 | The Romano-British 'Small Town' at Wanborough, Wiltshire | London | Britannia Monograph Series No 19 | 92 | ||
Crummy, N. | 1983 | Colchester Archaeological Report 2: The Roman small finds from excavations in Colchester, 1971-9 | Colchester | Colchester Archaeological Trust Ltd | p. 47/fig. 50, no. 1756 |