FINGER RING

Treasure Number: 2017T509

Description:

Silver finger-ring in the form of a snake wrapped round on itself. The hoop is D-shaped in section and plain in the middle section. It narrows at one terminal to form the tail of the snake. The tail section is lightly waved and decorated on the outer surface to appear as snakeskin. The head end is similarly decorated, widening to a thicker terminal in the form of a lozenge-shaped, head with oval eyes at the side and a segmented design on the flat upper surface of the head. The ring appears to have been cast, with traces of flashing visible from the mouth to the underside of the head. The underside of the head is indented, with a series of curved marks.

The circular hoop is distorted, with the head of the snake now protruding downwards into the circle.

Dimensions:

External diameter max 20.1mm, width of snake's head 4.5mm, back of hoop. 1.8mm. Weight 1.88g.

Discussion:

The design of this ring did occur in the Roman period - it conforms to Johns' type Ai (1996, 45), to which she assigns a first century AD date. However this form of jewellery continues to be popular in modern times, see for example CPAT-42D547 and YORYM-024FCE. Non-destructive XRF analysis of the ring at the British Museum suggested that this ring is highly likely to be of modern date. It appears to be sterling silver and areas of yellow metal plating were also detected, containing nickel.

References:

Reference: Johns, C. 1996. The Jewellery of Roman Britain. Celtic and Classical Traditions, London, UCL Press.

Recommendation:

This find does not qualify as Treasure under the stipulations of the Treasure Act 1996 as it is less than 300 years old.

E. Ghey, Project Curator, Romano-British Collections, The British Museum.