Collections Online
Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales
Advanced Search
Late Bronze Age gold hair ring
This is a small penannular ring consisting of electrum foil wrapped around a copper core. A strip of gold foil has been wrapped around to produce an alternating striped pattern. The terminals are flat and separated by about 2.0mm. Small penannular rings of gold or decorated with gold foil have traditionally been referred to as ‘hair-rings’ or ‘ring-money’, though their exact function is unknown. They are most frequent in Ireland, but are increasingly known from Wales and southern England, as well as in Scotland, France and the Low Countries. Four further examples in Wales are known from Graianog Farm, Gwynedd, St Donats, Vale of Glamorgan, and Brynmill, Swansea, as well as one from the Cwm Cadnant hoard, Anglesey.
Project Title: Gold in Britain’s auriferous regions, 2450-800 BC: towards a coherent Research Framework and Strategy. Status: Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Network Grant funded project (2018-2019)
LI1.4
Collection Area
Item Number
Find Information
Site Name: Port Eynon, Gower
Notes: Single find. The ring was found while metal-detecting in January-February 1999. It was found on a small arable field in the vicinity of the coast, about 8-10cm deep in ploughsoil.
Acquisition
Measurements
Material
Location
Collections Online is updated regularly, but please confirm that an object remains on display before making a special visit.