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Description: | A cast copper alloy finger ring of probable Roman date. The oval bezel is set obliquely to the shoulders and hoop of the ring, and is decorated with a crude geometric incised design. The design consists of an oval with a central line over a curving X shape and a tiny vertical wedge placed in each of the four sectors. The bezel measures 7.6mm by 9.7mm. The ring's shoulders are decorated on each side with three inset transverse ridges, of which the central ridge is larger than the surrounding pair. The hoop is circular with a D-shaped profile. The ring is quite slender and was perhaps intended to be worn on the little finger. This ring is similar to examples found at Dorchester, Dorset (SOMDOR1570), Corfe Castle, Dorset (SUSS-155FB3) and Bawdrip, Somerset (SOM-0B9310).
Ralph Jackson (Curator of the Roman-British Collections at the British Museum) believes this ring is probably Roman in date. He states: "although it is difficult to be certain, It is just possible that the design is a rather rudimentarily-incised version of the early Christian chi-rho motif - the first two letters of Christ's name in Greek (X and P) superimposed - (with a reversed rho in the case of the Bishops Hull example), with a symetrical arrangement of four 'flecks' in the field." | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Payne, Naomi - Portable Antiquities Scheme | Identifier: | http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/hms/pas_... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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