Roman bronze octagonal ring found in Lincolnshire

A Roman octagonal finger ring that looks like a nut without threads has been discovered is a former drainage ditch in Lincolnshire during an excavation by Wessex Archaeology.

It is a ring of the Henig Type IX classification, characterized by a circular internal hoop with polygonal external facets. The facets are usually plain, although a few rare examples have decorations on the exterior flat facets, like this one with the signs of the zodiac. They typically date to between 200 and 400 A.D.

A number of rings of this type have been reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme, most of them found in the south of England. They are much more frequent finds in modern-day Germany. Examples with six, seven and eight facets have been found in gold, silver and copper alloy. This one is particularly heavy.

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