A ‘remarkable’ Pictish ring with an intricate setting has been uncovered at a Moray fort previously thought to have been ‘archaeologically vandalised’ by the construction of a new town. The kite-shaped ring with a garnet or red glass centre had lain undiscovered for more than a thousand years at the Burghead fort before it was uncovered by a volunteer in a dig led by the University of Aberdeen.
Although known as a Pictish site, its historical value was widely assumed to have been lost when the town of Burghead was constructed in the 1800s, covering over much of the fort and dismantling the stone that remained for building. Among the families encouraged to relocate to the new town to support the fishing industry were the ancestors of John Ralph – a former engineer and graduate of the University of Aberdeen. When he retired, John signed up as a volunteer for the Burghead digs after seeing a social media post by the University’s Professor of Archaeology, Gordon Noble.
Something really exciting
Professor Noble has led excavation work, funded by Historical Environment Scotland, over the last three years which has shed new light on the importance of the site and enabled the development of 3-D reconstructions of how it might once have looked. John, who describes himself as an ‘enthusiastic amateur’ had many moments over the two-week excavation – his third dig at the site – where he thought he had discovered something, only to for the experts to tell him he had a knack for finding ‘shiny pebbles’. So when, on the last day of the final dig, he found something that looked interesting, he didn’t hold out much hope. It was only when he showed it to a fellow volunteer and his eyes lit up that he realised he might ‘have something’.
Professor Noble says that what he was presented with was ‘truly remarkable’. “John was digging and then came over and said, ‘look what I’ve found’. What he handed over was incredible,” he added. “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. 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. We certainly weren’t expecting to find something like this lying around the floor of what was once a house but that had appeared of low significance so, in typical fashion, we had left work on it until the final day of the dig.”
The ring is currently with the National Museum of Scotland’s Post-excavation Service for analysis and John, who grew up in Burghead, is delighted to have added his own piece to the puzzle in understanding the region’s Pictish past. “It is a real thrill to dig up an artefact in the knowledge that you are probably the first person to see it for 1,000-1,500 years,” he said. “It becomes a real guessing game of who owned it, what did they use it for and how was it lost.”
Scotland’s remarkably rich history
Professor Noble and his team will use the ring and other evidence uncovered on the dig to start to answer those questions. Professor Noble added: “We will now look at the ring, evidence of buildings and other artefacts to consider whether the ring was crafted on the site and who such an important piece of jewellery might have been made for. 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.”
Susan O’Connor, Head of Grants at Historic Environment Scotland, said: “Given Scotland’s remarkably rich history, it shouldn’t be surprising that that we are still uncovering important pieces of Scotland’s past, even where we least expect it. We are proud to have funded and supported the excavation work conducted by the University of Aberdeen, and are delighted that volunteer John Ralph played such a pivotal role in bringing it to light – literally! Whilst the materials used themselves are not particularly valuable in today’s monetary sense, this find is hugely significant for what it tells us about Pictish lives and society. We’re excited to find out more once our colleagues in the National Museum have finished their investigations.”