Hampshire Cultural Trust's Curatorial Liaison Manager, Ross, shines the spotlight on one archaeological object a day throughout the Festival of Archaeology.
These objects were reported and recorded through the Portable Antiquities Scheme, purchased from the Crown through the Treasure reporting process and accessioned into the collections cared for by Hampshire Cultural Trust. They are now available for displays at our museums and for research.
Object: penannular ring
Period: late Bronze Age
Date: 1300 to 800 BC
Late Bronze Age, 1300 to 800 BC gold or gold-plated copper alloy penannular (incomplete circle) ring, Found at Preston Candover Hampshire in January 2018 by a metal detectorist. The use of these gold rings is still unknown but it is thought they may have been worn in the nose or hair as decoration. Some examples have a copper alloy core with gold plating and some are solid gold, examples have been found decorated with a silver colour wire stripe coiling round them. The use of gold sets these apart as high status symbols but maybe the ones that are not solid gold were a more affordable alternative if you could not afford solid gold.
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