An amateur historian just unearthed a treasure that would turn any archaeologist green with envy: an ornate gold ring dating back to ancient Roman times. Posted on 08/08/2018 9:15:32 AM PDT by Simon Green
An amateur historian just unearthed a treasure that would turn any archaeologist green with envy: an ornate gold ring dating back to ancient Roman times.
On the face of the ring — which is thought to be 24-karat gold — ancient artisans placed a black onyx with an engraving of the Roman god of victory driving two horses, the BBC reported.
Jason Massey, a member of the Detecting for Veterans group, discovered the detailed ring on July 29 while surveying a field near the town of Crewkerne, England. [Photos: Mosaic Glass Dishes and Bronze Jugs from Roman England]
The 1.7-ounce (48 grams) ring has yet to be formally analyzed, but experts at the British Museum said the ring likely dates to sometime between A.D. 200 and A.D. 300, the BBC reported.
At first, Massey thought the ring was a gold coin, because he found it in the middle of a stash of 60 ancient Roman coins that were buried in the field, he told the BBC. This site has proved fruitful for Massey; in November, he and his friends found a lead-lined coffin and more than 250 coins that also dated to the time of the Roman Empire, the BBC reported.
These lavish finds indicate that a "very high-status Roman villa" once sat at this site, Massey said.
"There's [a] load of figures floating about [for the value of the ring], but we're interested in the villa, who's lived there and where they've come from and who the person was that wore this ring," Massey said.
According to Ciorstaidh Hayward-Trevarthen, a finds liaison officer in Somerset and Dorset, England, "There are a couple of gold rings of that sort of date from Somerset, but they're not common," she told the BBC.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Thanks Hegemony Cricket.
Three rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
“Ciorstaidh”- gaelic. Keer-stee
Megan Markle will be wearing it soon...
Metal detecting and guns.
Best to know the rules before hand.
I suppose a whole bunch of other things too. Especially in England what with driving on the left side of the road and all.
LOL!
is that a signet ring used to stamp wax on documents ?
Someday they will discover my wedding ring in the septic system at the Ci Cincinnati Zoo.
I'm not gonna *ask* how it got there, I wanna know, but I'm just not gonna ask. ;^).
I needed to get the ring resized so I’d taken it off with wife’s and crisco’s help. She was taking it to the jeweler and to keep it in mind was wearing it on her thumb which was the tightest fit of any of her fingers
In the interim we went to the zoo with grandkids. At one point nature called. Afterwards, turning around and standing over the stool, she flushed. At the same moment, the ring fell off her thumb and bounced into the bowl. She grabbed but the flush was faster.
This is the story I was told. Not being transgendered, I wasn’t there to witness. :>)
Thousands of years from now an archeological researcher, finding a mixture of animal product and human will puzzle out the presence of a golden band among those deposits.
The only real conclusion: a fecal cult was sacrificing and offering to animal deities.
Thanks, that's nothing like the storyline I imagined. :^D
What was your guess?
Oh no, file that one under TMI... Jim Rob would not just give me a time out, he’d show up at my house and wash my mouth out with soap.
Now you’ve really got me curious! LOL
It's clear that you don't understand the difference between "market value" and "melt value". Great Britain has the most fair and sensible metal detecting laws (Portable Antiquities Scheme ) in Europe.
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