Volunteer Discovers 1,000-Year-Old Ring on the Last Day of an Excavation in Scotland #archaeology #scotland #history

The ring's center is decorated with a garnet or red glass setting. University of Aberdeen

Smithsonian Magazine's "Smart News" has a piece on the discovery of a 1,000 year old ring in Scotland.  The ring was found by a volunteer on an archaeology dig led by a researcher at the University of Aberdeen.  The ring is believe to have belonged to the Picts, a group of people that lived parts of present-day northeastern and eastern Scotland during the early part of the Middle Ages.  The Picts were called the "Painted People" because they decorated their skin using body paint (or possibly tattooing).

“I was just clearing the floor of a building, and at first I saw a metal pin—and then, lo and behold, there was the ring,” Ralph tells BBC Scotland News. “It was only when I showed it to the volunteer next to me and he got excited that I thought it might really be something. You are always a bit surprised when you get something like that.”

When Ralph showed the artifact to Noble, the archaeologist knew immediately that it was something special.

“What he handed over was incredible,” says Noble in the statement. “Even before the conservation work, we could see it was something really exciting, as despite more than 1,000 years in the ground, we could see glints of the possible garnet setting.”