Hopefully! There is a half of a clay mould for making rings like this from the Pictish levels at Brough of Birsay. The analysis on the red inset is still ongoing. If it is garnet it is likely reused from an earlier object. Intriguingly there is also a little sliver of garnet found at Birsay too…

It is amazing! The three gathered berries at the points of the lozenge signifying the Trinty and outlining crosses across the ring. The lozenge representing Christ and the blood red garnet, his wound on the cross. Alas it is not yet on display in the NMS, but hopefully soon.

7th/8th C so far but we would hope to refine that date down with further radiocarbon dating of the secure context the ring came from

And the end of Burghead too…

Outfought and out thought today.

The six degrees of separation in Archaeology

Some English language reporting on the really tiny find of a 1,600-year-old golden miniature #padlock with spring mechanism discovered in NW Germany also here by @killgrove.bsky.social via @livescience.com:

🏺 www.livescience.com/archaeology/...