Beautiful 9th C. Viking Gold Ring Stamped Motif

Northern Europe, Viking or Norse culture, ca. 9th to 11th century CE. A stunning ring formed from 81% gold sheet with a wide, hammered band that gradually narrows to form thin strips bound in a knot. The front of the ring is stamped with dozens of circles arranged in 8 serpent-like forms. Lines smaller impressed dots form borders, separating each of the serpent-like motifs, and 4 small circles are arranged in the shape of a rhomboid at the center of the ring, flanked by 2 additional circles on the top and bottom. Viking men and women wore gold accessories like this example as signs of visual wealth. They were often used as currency or deposited in rivers as offerings to the gods, though they were also buried with their owners upon death. Size (of band): 0.625" W (1.6 cm); Size (of ring): 0.875" in diameter (2.2 cm); Ring size: 8.75; Metal quality: 81% gold (equivalent to over 19 karats), 16% silver

Scholars believe that a popular practice was to amass a hoard of these precious objects and then deposit them, often in water sources like rivers. Gold rings - like all gold objects - were apparently quite rare, only found in graves of the highest status. In pagan Viking culture gold rings were used to swear oaths on and as markers of the godi, members of the Thing (governing assembly); some scholars have speculated that their deposition in hoards was an attempt to save them from violation with the coming sweep of Christianity.

Provenance: private Carmichael, California, USA collection, acquired in the 1990s

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#167444
Condition Report: Wearable, intact, and excellent.