File:KENT-EA1868 (FindID 526917).jpg

Surface metal analysis conducted at the British Museum indicated an approximate silver content for the ring of 96% for the dark, wide rod of the hoop of the ring and 97% for the bright narrow twisted wire, the remainder being mostly iron and copper; the ring weighs 3.0 grams.

The ring is made of two plain rods which alternate singly with two finer rods of double, twisted wires, all of which have been twisted together to form a writhen, circular hoop that tapers to a plain length of rectangular section at the back; diameter, 2.35 cm. The surfaces are worn smooth, particularly on the outside.

A similar silver ring of plain rods and twisted wires, but with only a short joining arc at the back and a more corrugated outline, was reported as a Treasure find from the Bridlington area, East Yorkshire and dated to the Viking period (Portable Antiquities and Treasure Annual Report 2007, no. 216). But it was there noted that the twisted hoop type of Viking origin is long-lived in Denmark, in fact into the early 12th century, while in England, a ring of plain rods with a plain section hammered square at the back was found in the Lark Hill Hoard, deposited later around 1173-1174 (F. Lindahl, 2003, Symboler I guld og sølv, Nationalmuseets fingerringe 1000-1700-årene, Copenhagen, 11-13, figs. 3 and 12). Also, I am most grateful to Professor J. Graham-Campbell for drawing my attention during discussion of such late parallels to a silver-gilt ring of alternating twisted rods and finer twisted wires with a long, plain, rectangular section at the back, like the one from Old Romney, from a late 13th or early 14th-century context at Hangleton, Sussex (E.W. Holden, 1963, 'Excavations at the deserted medieval village of Hangleton, part 1', Sussex Archaeological Collections, 54-181, fig. 38, 18). The form and structure of both these rings are closely comparable with a further silver stray find from either England, or possibly the Near East, in the Haedeke Collection (H.-U. Haedeke, 2000, Schmuck aus drei Jahrtausenden, Cologne, 86, cat.no. 118). It would appear from the occurrences in early Medieval contexts, therefore, that such rings of multiple, twisted rods with longish arcs of square section at the back of the hoop and less 'corrugated' appearance represent a development of the Viking form and can be dated to the Romanesque period.

The ring from Old Romney would therefore qualify as Treasure under two of the stipulated criteria of the Treasure Act: it is more than 300 years old and the precious metal content exceeds 10%.

B.M. Ager

Curator

Department of Prehistory & Europe

British Museum

29/1/2013