Antiquities Discussion Forums > Ancient and Medieval Finger Rings

Is This Roman Ring Real?

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Mayadigger:
Ave!

Forget about the bronze disease, okay?

Tash D, your ring is certainly medieval, c. 13th-15th Century.

Cast as one piece and then engraved with a central quatrefoil and incised hatch marks radiating toward an outlined circular bezel.

The symbolism is moot. I really like your ring and you should be proud to have it.  +++

Further concerning medieval rings, many have been described as having magical with powers.

The ring seen below is a rare Magic, Demon Catcher ring in my collection, ca. 14th-16th Century

The spider web on the bezel was meant to capture the curses/demons inflected upon the wearer by malevolent sources, but if that failed, the lands and grooves would make the curse simply slide away.

Is that cool or what?  8)

Best,

Kevin

Renate H:
Old thread ... but researching something else I came across an image that reminded me on this. Attached are two images from these sources:

Rudenko, Konstantin A. (2015): Древности Биляра. Available online p. 307

Pollio, T. N.: Towards a Consideration of Unprovenanced Ancient and Medieval Finger Rings. Available online

Perhaps this helps, although I'm not a ring expert.

SC:
Yes, those sources show it is 13th-14th century.  Used by Bulgars but likely by the wider population of the Balkans too.

Nothing about any of the fancier claims.

SC

Renate H:
As far as I know, people in Eastern Europe in the steppe zone, but also in parts of the forest belt had a nomadic life, much more so than was the case in Western Europe, and wore jewellery of very different origins on their bodies at the same time. Often it is not even possible to find out a person's ethic affiliation at that time, and pieces of the same origin may well be spread over a large area. It seems that a lot of jewellery was made by Volga Bulgarians, perhaps also this ring, or a local craftsman copied the style.

In any case, it is an interesting story and does not need any "fancy claims".  Such a piece may have had magical significance, but without a written record, this all remains speculation I think.

SC:
Exactly.  A beautiful piece nevertheless.

Early and late medieval finds from the Balkans are hard to identify precisely.  It seems that the styles were used quite widely.  So, for example, the same buckle can be found in urban highly-Byzantinized contexts, rural Slavic contexts and Avar graves.  Later items, like a style of ear-ring, can be found in Bulgar, Magyar, Byzantine, Slavic and local German contexts.

At the same time there are also some items that are entirely unique to a single culture, so it is always worth the research. 

SC
 

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