Retired engineer discovers 'incredible' item from 'disappeared' kingdom
Only a single specimen of the ring was found at the dig site, which came as a surprise. The ring is from the Pictish kingdom, one that vanished. World Trending
A man in Scotland who joined a dig simply to use his free time for something of purpose, was shocked when he discovered a ring that was 1,000 years old. The ancient piece of jewellery was found in a small Scottish village where archaeologists had called for volunteers to join in the excavation work. John Ralph, a retired engineer, told BBC Scotland, that he decided to join the Burghead excavations after seeing a post.
The 68-year-old joined three different digs, each lasting two weeks and says he thought he was doing great work and making amazing discoveries. However, all of them turned out to be merely some sparkling stones.
One day, at a site that is believed to once have been “a significant seat of power” during the Pictish kingdom between 500 and 1000 CE Ralph struck gold.
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While cleaning the floor of one of the structures, he found a pin and soon after the ring.
Ring discovery in Scotland is "truly incredible"
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Archaeologists from the University of Aberdeen led the dig. Ralph showed them the ring who thought it was "something really exciting". Gordon Noble, Professor of Archaeology at the University of Aberdeen told BBC Scotland that what Ralph had found was "truly incredible" and "despite more than 1,000 years in the ground we could see glints of the possible garnet setting."
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The discovery of the ring is special because only a handful of them have been found to date, Noble said. He added that Pictish rings are mostly only found in bundles, indicating that they were hidden there to protect from invaders and others. So to find one isolated ring is special.
Picts, a kingdom that perished
Another fascinating thing about the ring is that it belongs to a kingdom that "disappeared from history". The Picts were warriors and comprised the largest kingdom in Dark Age Scotland, according to BBC. They defended Scotland against attacks from the Romans and the Angles.
They fought and won against the Northumbrian Angles invaders in the Battle of Dun Nechtain, a war which if they had lost, could have meant that Scotland never existed. However, the Picts vanished from the face of the Earth by the end of the first millennium because of the Gaels, a group that today is native to Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man.
The discovery of the ring offers a window into the history of the mighty kingdom that played a significant role in the history of Scotland.
