Merry Christmas from us all. We hope you will be able to spend Christmas with your families after what has been a very strange year. We have got used to new ways of working from home and meeting with finders when the restrictions allow. But we do hope we can get back to meeting with our finders next year and visiting clubs and hosting finds days. We will continue to work from home for the foreseeable future as our work places remain closed to the public. We will continue to record finds and process treasure, so please do get in touch with us via email or telephone.

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love sent to me….

Five Gold rings:

We thought we would have a look at some of the common types of finger ring we see here in the Midlands that are reported as treasure and explain their meaning and function.

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Momento Mori

The tradition for mourning rings began in the seventeenth century. Money would often be left in a persons will to have a ring made to remember the deceased by. This example was discovered in North Warwickshire and depicts a skull in white enamel with the inscription DIE TO LIVE on the bezel. Many examples of memento mori also include the initials of the deceased. The white enamel used in this example is thought to represent an unmarried person with black enamel used for a married person.

The tradition for mourning rings began in the seventeenth century. Money would often be left in a persons will to have a ring made to remember the deceased by. This example was discovered in North Warwickshire and depicts a skull in white enamel with the inscription DIE TO LIVE on the bezel. Many examples of memento mori also include the initials of the deceased. The white enamel used in this example is thought to represent an unmarried person with black enamel used for a married person.

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Iconographic

This example discovered near Slimbridge, Gloucestershire dates from the Late Medieval period and is silver-gilt. The bezel is decorated with geometric decoration instead of religious imagery which is often seen on rings of this type. Many examples are engraved with religious imagery such as saints, the Virgin Mary and Christ.

Posy rings

Posy, posie or posey rings as they are also known get their name from the French word “poésie” meaning poem. This is due to the devotional messages that are normally inscribed on the inside of the band. They would then be shared with loved ones who knew the secret of what was written inside. Those inscribed with Roman capital letters were first used in the 16^th and 17^th centuries. Inscriptions in italics then became more popular later in the mid-17th century. This example was discovered near Tamworth in Staffordshire and is inscribed with “A friendly pleadge” The small size of the ring suggests it was worn by a female. Does the use of friendly suggest it was given by a friend rather than a lover? Of course we will never know.

We have many finger rings with inscribed bezels on the PAS database. Some feature the owners or receiver’s initials . Roman examples may feature religious symbols or animals and birds. This Medieval example discovered in South Staffordshire depicts the bearded figure of St John the Baptist, who is cradling a lamb and has a cross behind them. Iconography associated with Holy images are commonly found on Medieval finger rings and are thought to represent personal devotion.

Finger rings with settings

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This finger ring is dated to the Medieval period and features a small light blue cabochon turquoise semi-precious stone setting. Research by Adam Daubney (Former FLO for Lincolnshire) suggests “Turquoise was not a particularly valuable stone in the middle ages, but one that was valued for its amuletic properties, protecting the wearer against poisoning, drowning, or having an accident while riding. It was also supposed to have the property of indicating the state of health of the wearer by the shade the Turquoise went.”

Treasure Annual Report 2019

This year the treasure annual review was released in a slightly different way. Unfortunately the usual presentation and chance to see a display some of the year’s most important treasure discoveries could not take place at the British Museum. This year a zoom presentation was made which included discussions from The British Museums coin specialists, The Treasure Registrar, Michael Lewis the head of the scheme and Simon Maslin FLO for Surrey who discussed how 2020 has affected the daily working life of a FLO and our ability to meet with finders. 2019 was another recorded breaking year for treasure with 1,311 cases reported. Highlights from this region include:

This year the treasure annual review will be released in a slightly different way. Unfortunately the usual presentation and chance to see a display some of the year’s most important treasure discoveries will not take place as usual at the British Museum. This year it will instead take place via zoom on 9^th December. 2019 was another recorded breaking year for treasure with 1,311 cases reported. Highlights from this region include:

HESH-237E03 Lead disc struck from the dies for a silver penny of William I (r. 1066–87) or William II (r. 1087–1100) found near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. Its function is uncertain, but may have been as a receipt to show that customs dues had been paid or a teststriking of the coin dies.

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WMID-FAEC68 Silver shilling of Elizabeth I (AD 1558–1603) which has been modified into a mount or similar decorative item of unclear function. The piece is most unusual and doesn’t have any parallels on the database. It is thought it could perhaps be a mount, possibly for a book.  It was found at Flagg, Derbyshire.

Finds Identified II

A new publication was released in November 2020 by Greenlight Publishing. The book is written by Michael Lewis (Head of the Portable Antiquities Scheme) and Kevin Leahy (Finds Advisor for the scheme with a specialist knowledge in Early Medieval metalwork). The publication is a really useful reference book for metal objects and contains some 300 pages of artefacts from brooches and belt fittings to strap fittings and spurs. The book is packed with images of objects recorded on the PAS database. You may even spot one of your finds in there! The image size and quality is fantastic making it a really useful guide for the finds you may bring back from the field. Maybe one for your Christmas list!

Cast Your Vote

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The 13th annual Current Archaeology Award is now open for voting. These are voted for completely by the public and you can have the chance to vote here https://www.archaeology.co.uk/vote. Voting closes on 8 February 2021. All the nominees are projects and publications that made the pages of the magazine over the past 12 months, and are believed to have made outstanding contributions to archaeology. The Herefordshire Viking hoard: unpicking the story of a stolen treasure is one of the nominees for rescue project of the year.

Our very own Peter Reavill was involved in a project to identify and retrieve a number of objects that are unique and help tell the story of Herefordshire in the Viking period. You may remember the story from the press last year with the finders who did not declare these archaeological significant objects facing tough prison sentences. Sadly, some of these items have never been retrieved and their full significance will not be understood. The work that Peter contributed as part of a collaboration with Herefordshire Archaeology, Birmingham Museums Trust, Herefordshire Museum Service and The British Museum is worthy of this award, well we think so anyway! Good luck Peter and don’t forget to cast your vote online.

We need your help – Do you have one of these in your collection?

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Could you have one of these silver plaited wire rings in your collection at home? Historically the belief has grown up that they are all 19^th-century walking-stick mounts and so are not only considered not treasure, but not worth recording as they are too modern. Recent research suggests that at least some are from 16^th– to 18^th-century sword-grips, and that others are certainly early-Medieval, either Anglo-Saxon or Viking. So if anyone has one in their collection please get in touch. They won’t be reported as Treasure, but will be recorded as of unknown date. Once a wider number have been recorded the relevant experts can then work out how to distinguish the Post Medieval varieties from the Early Medieval examples. These small research projects are just one of the ways that prove by working together with metal detectorists we can advance knowledge and learn more about our shared past.