File:Early Medieval, Finger Ring (FindID 439131).jpg

English: Treasure Case 2011-T263: Report
Bitterley Area, Shropshire: copper alloy Finger-Ring Fragment
Date: Early Medieval late 8th-9th Centuries (AD 750-950)
Date of discovery: April 2011
Circumstances of discovery: While searching with a metal detector

Description:
The finger ring is cast in one piece and is now incomplete: all that survives is the bezel and shoulder and hoop on one edge. The opposite shoulder is removed by an old break, whilst the break on the hoop seems more recent. The bezel is circular in plan, expanding at the surviving shoulder, and lentoid in section. It is decorated by a horizontal cast ridge or rib that divides the bezel in two. This ridge is further decorated by incised diagonal lines producing a rope, or twisted, pattern. Either side of the raised ridge are pierced and punched decoration. This decoration is the same above and below each panel and consists of three drilled oval holes that are encircled by a slight incised double ring (forming a classic ring and dot 18.5style decoration). These rings are then used and over-punched by a circlet of punched dots which sometimes respect the ring and at other times overlie it. The exterior edge of the bezel is also notched and a continuous band of punched dots respects the edge. Many of these punched dots overlap and the overall design is slightly irregular or 'messy'. The surviving shoulder is decorated with four cast transverse ridges. The hoop also seems to have incised circumferential lines / bands respecting the upper and lower edges of the exterior. The internal face of the ring is plain and undecorated; the punched design of dots is clearly identifiable as raised pimples or dots on the back of the bezel. The hoop of the ring is very slight but elegantly flares at the shoulders into the bezel.

Dimensions:
Length 18.5mm, width across bezel 16.2mm, thickness across bezel 1.7mm, width across hoop 2.4mm, thickness across hoop 1.2mm. Weight: 1.21 grams

Discussion and Dating:
The ring is comparable in form with gold and silver rings of the mid-to-late Saxon period with circular or oval bezels, which may have two or three grooves incised across the shoulders and often expand at this point, e.g. 9th-century examples from Coppergate, York; the Wincanton area, Somerset; Aberford, W. Yorkshire; Winterbourne Whitechurch, Dorset; and an 'import' from Mainz, Germany (L. Webster and J. Backhouse (eds.) 1991, The Making of England. Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture AD600-900, London, British Museum Press, nos. 204 and 244; Treasure Annual Report 2004, DCMS, London, no. 85; Treasure Annual Report 1998-9, no. 65; and M. Schulze-Dörrlamm 2002, 'Verschollene Schmuckstücke aus dem spätrömischen und karolingischen Mainz', Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt, 32, 137-149, fig. 9.1). The notched and dot-punched edge of the bezel of the Bitterley ring appears to imitate the beading common on such rings, while a silver ring of the same period in the British Museum from near Thirsk, N. Yorkshire, has a comparable border of small, punched triangles. Circular bezels expanding at the shoulders are also found on slightly earlier Anglo-Saxon gold rings of possibly late 8th/early 9th-century date, e.g. from Bossington, Hampshire, and Garrick Street, London (D.A. Hinton 1974, Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Ornamental Metalwork 700-1100 in the Department of Antiquities, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Oxford University Press, no. 4; C.C. Oman 1931, 'Anglo-Saxon finger-rings', Apollo, 14, 104-8, fig. B.21). The discovery of a mid-to-late Saxon ring in Shropshire is of note, as material dating to the later part of the early medieval period is very unusual.

Metal Content:
Surface metal analysis of the finger-ring fragment conducted at the British Museum identified the metal of the ring as an alloy of copper and tin with a few percent lead and iron. Traces of other elements detected include zinc, antimony, arsenic, silver (less than 1%) and approximately 2% gold; the ring fragment weighs 1.21 grams.

Statement

The ring fragment from the Bitterley area contains significantly less than 10% precious metal, so it does not qualify as Treasure under one of the stipulated criteria of the Treasure Act.

Authors:

Peter Reavill Finds Liaison Officer, Portable Antiquities Scheme

Barry Ager Curator Department of Prehistory & Europe British Museum