Object number2025.030.1
DescriptionA complete gold-plated copper or copper-alloy penannular ring of Late Bronze Age date, c.1150-800BCE. The object consists of a gold sheet wrapped around a copper or copper-alloy core. The sheet is slightly creased where it bunches in the internal face of the ring; this was caused when the object was bent round. The ring is broadly circular in plan and section. It is uneven in diameter, with one area particularly expanded, but this appears due to corrosion of the copper or copper-alloy core, which has caused it to erupt through the gold sheet over roughly two thirds of one face of the find. There is a small section of copper corrosion partially filling the gap between the two circular faces of the ring.
The ring bears no visible decoration other than the gold sheet.
These penannular rings are well-documented across Britain, and much of Northern Europe, and they are often classed as 'hair rings' or 'ring money', though their precise function is not known. This example is the first such discovery from Orkney and is the only known example of Late Bronze Age gold from the Northern Isles, with Bronze Age metalwork generally rare from the region.
The gold is in good condition, lustrous, but the copper/copper-alloy core is heavily corroded, friable and patinated a light grey-green.
Collection PlaceLamb Holm, Orkney
Object namePenannular ring
Object categoryarchaeological assemblage
Materialgold, copper alloy
Dimensions
- Diameter: 28.80 millimetres
Diameter: 27.00 millimetres
Diameter: 10.20 millimetres
Diameter: 7.70 millimetres
Length: 2.70 millimetres
Width: 10.60 millimetres
Width: 7.50 millimetres
Depth: 10.50 millimetres
Depth: 8.40 millimetres