Rare Roman ring donated to museum
The detectorist finder and landowner have been thanked for donating this rare Roman ring to their local museum. It was found in January 2022 in Arun, West Sussex and recorded at the PAS as SUSS-17276F.
Image: Sussex Archaeological Society CC by SA2.0
The PAS record notes that it is one of only two recorded on the database and it was designated a Find of Note of County Importance. The Sussex FLO tweeted “It was processed as treasure and the finder/landowner generously waived their rewards. Brilliant!“.
It will now go on display at Littlehampton Museum who tweeted “We are so grateful to the finder and landowner for their generous donation. The ring is amazing and will be a star object in our upcoming Romans exhibition“.
The ring is decorated with a phallus but given its tiny size (14mm) it is thought that it would have been worn by a child. Julia Edge, curator of Littlehampton Museum said “It’s not something that we would consider giving to a child today, but in Roman times the phallus was a symbol used to protect against evil or bad luck. It provides an insight into how our sensitivity to, and interpretation of, symbols changes over time“