Gold hair-ring worn by high-status figure shows value of metal in Bronze Age Wales, say archaeologists

This article originally appeared on Culture24.

Well-worn ring from around 1000-800 BC is part of late Bronze Age hoard declared treasure in Wales

A gold hair-ring with a striped decoration, found by a metal detectorist in a hoard in Wales in the summer of 2013, would have been worn by an important Bronze Age individual around 3,000 years ago, say archaeologists who have had the discoveries confirmed as treasure.

Philip Cooper found a gold penannular ring and a trio of copper ingot fragments on farm land in Cwm Cadnant, where they had been disturbed and separated by agricultural movements. The ring has a silver strip spiralling around its curved cold bar, and could also have been used as an earring.

“This gold hair-ring is finely made and was once worn by a man or woman of some standing within their community,” says Adam Gwilt, the Principal Curator for Prehistory at National Museum Wales, which has secured funding to buy the hoard for Anglesey’s main gallery, Oriel Ynys Môn.

“It could have been made of gold from Wales or Ireland. The copper ingot fragments are an important association with the ring.

“It would be interesting to know whether they were transported and exchanged over a long distance by sea, or perhaps smelted from local ores mined at Parys Mountain or The Great Orme.”

Hair-rings are common across Ireland and England, with scatters extending across Scotland, France, Belgium and The Netherlands. In north-west Wales, similar examples have been found at Trearddur, in Anglesey, and Graianog, in Gwynedd.

Copper and bronze ingots of plano-convex or cake form are commonly buried within Late Bronze Age hoards, having once been transported and exchanged by sea and functioned as the raw material to cast bronze tools and weapons.

“The finds highlight the value of metals such as gold, copper and bronze as trading and usable commodities,” says Ian Jones, the Curatorial Officer at the gallery who was initially alerted to the detection.
 
“These exciting locally found treasures will enrich our existing collections and offer our visitors an opportunity to see a rare example of a fine decorative item that was last worn during the Bronze Age.

“We are grateful to the finder and the landowner for their co-operation.”

The museum group and The Federation of Museums and Art Galleries of Wales have been supported by a £349,000 from the Collecting Cultures stream of the Heritage Lottery Fund.

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Source: http://www.culture24.org.uk//history-and-heritage/archaeology/art519282-gold-hair-ring-worn-by-high-status-figure-shows-value-of-metal-in-bronze-age-wales-say-archaeologists