After seeing a post on social media, 68-year-old retiree John Ralph decided to sign up for a dig at a Pictish site in Burghead, Scotland. Over the course of the excavation, Ralph picked up a number of promising objects — only to find out they were “shiny pebbles.” But on the very last day of the dig, he spotted a tiny piece of metal that turned out to be a Pictish ring.
The ring is at least 1,000 years old and offers a rare peek at Pictish life. Plus, it stands as a very exciting find for Ralph, who considers himself an “enthusiastic amateur” when it comes to archaeology.
Discovering The Pictish Ring In Burghead
According to a University of Aberdeen press release, the Pictish ring was discovered in Burghead, a former Pictish settlement. John Ralph, the hobby archaeologist who made the find, saw a post on social media looking for volunteers for an excavation led by the university — his alma mater — and decided to sign up.
University of AberdeenVolunteer John Ralph with the Pictish ring he found during a dig in Burghead.
“I had recently retired and saw a Facebook post looking for volunteers to help with the Burghead excavations,” he explained in the press release. “My sister still lives in Burghead and it sounded interesting… I have now joined three different digs there, each for two weeks.”
Though passionate about the work, Ralph admitted, “My initial enthusiasm for finds was somewhat dented by my knack of getting excited for ‘shiny pebbles.’”
On the very last day of the dig, however, that all changed. As the excavation team examined the floor of what appeared to be a former house, something caught Ralph’s eye. At first, as he leaned down to pick it up, he thought that he’d come across yet another “shiny pebble.”
“So, when I picked up a bit of earth from the final trench on the last day of excavations, I thought, ‘Here we go again,’” Ralph recalled. “It was only when I showed it to the volunteer next to me and he got excited that I thought it might really be something.”
University of AberdeenExperts believe the ring is at least 1,000 years old.
According to the press release, the volunteer’s eyes “lit up.” Ralph then approached University of Aberdeen professor of archaeology Gordon Noble — who had first posted about the dig — to show him what he’d found.
“John was digging and then came over and said, ‘Look what I’ve found.’ What he handed over was incredible,” Noble said, calling the ring “truly remarkable.” He continued: “Even before the conservation work we could see it was something really exciting as despite more than a thousand years in the ground we could see glints of the possible garnet setting.”
The Pictish ring is a rare find — and an exciting peek at the Picts themselves.
The Pictish Settlement In Burghead
The Picts were an ancient people who lived in northern and eastern Scotland between roughly 300 C.E. and 900 C.E. Researchers have long believed that a Pictish settlement existed at Burghead but feared that most relics were “lost” and that the site was “archaeologically vandalized” when the modern town was built in the 19th century.
Indeed, little is known about the Picts — which makes the discovery of the Pictish ring all the more exciting.
University of AberdeenArchaeologists are curious to learn where the ring was made and who it might have belonged to.
“There are very few Pictish rings which have ever been discovered and those we do know about usually come from hoards which were placed in the ground deliberately for safekeeping in some way,” Noble explained. “We will now look at the ring, evidence of buildings and other artifacts to consider whether the ring was crafted on the site and who such an important piece of jewelry might have been made for.”
He added: “We have some other evidence of metalworking and the number of buildings we have uncovered is quite striking. This further indicator of the high-status production of metalwork adds to the growing evidence that Burghead was a really significant seat of power in the Pictish period.”
As such, many questions remain about the ring. But John Ralph is happy to have played a role in its rediscovery.
“It is good to think that I’ve given something back with this little piece of the puzzle of the past,” he said. “I like to think of archaeology as a dot-to-dot picture and I am delighted to have been able to make my own little mark.”