Cultures/periods: Viking
Production date: 10thC-11thC
Found/Acquired: Europe: British Isles: England: Oxfordshire: Oxford
Materials: gold
Technique: plaited; beaten
A gold finger ring formed of six braided gold rods round and tapering toward the ends, which are bunched together to form a simple narrow band; it has split apart in one place, but presumably in antiquity, as both ends are smooth.
The location of the find of this ring was originally listed as St. Aldates Street, Oxford. Recent research by James Graham-Campbell has shown that the location of the find is Queen Street, Oxford.
Found circa 1890 in a stone coffin on St. Aldate Street, Oxford, while excavating for a gutter opposite the great gate of Christ Church. The hoop is now in the shape of a semi-oval, but the ends may originally have been joined.