Moray village of Burghead sees discovery of thousand year old Pictish ring during University of Aberdeen archaeology dig

By Elizabeth Hunter

A 1000-year-old ring has been found under a village - by a descendent of a family who lived there.

This kite-shaped Pictish ring with a red garnet stone at its centre had laid undiscovered at the Burghead fort in Moray for more than a thousand years.

The fort was thought to have been ''archaeologically vandalised' when the current fishing village was built on top of it between 1805 and 1809.

Amongst the families who relocated there were the ancestors of John Ralph who has uncovered the ring.

After retiring as an engineer, John signed up as a volunteer for the archaeological excavation in Burghead which are led by the University of Aberdeen.

John, who describes himself as an “enthusiastic amateur” had several moments over the two-week dig when he thought he’d discovered something exciting, only for the experts to tell him he had a knack for finding “shiny pebbles”.

So when, on the last day, he found something that looked interesting, he didn’t hold out much hope. But then he showed it to a fellow digger and their eyes lit up.

The ring is currently with the National Museum of Scotland’s post-excavation service for analysis.

Professor Graham Noble, who leads Aberdeen University’s archaeology department, is calling the find “truly remarkable”.

He added: “Even before the conservation work it was obviously something really exciting. Despite more than a thousand years in the ground, we could see glints of the possible garnet setting.

“Very few Pictish rings ever been discovered – and those we do know about come from hoards which were placed in the ground deliberately for safekeeping.

"We certainly weren’t expecting to find something like this lying around the floor of what was once a house. It had appeared of low significance so we had left work on that area until the final day of the dig.”

John, who grew up in Burghead, said: “It is a real thrill to know you are probably the first person to see it for 1000-1500 years.

“It becomes a real guessing game of who owned it? What did they use it for and how was it lost?

“My ancestors were part of the movement of people encouraged into the new village to support the fishing industry – the reason that much of what remained of the fort was destroyed.

“It’s good to think that I’ve given something back with this little piece of the puzzle of the past.

''I like to think of archaeology as a dot-to-dot picture and I am delighted to have been able to make my own little mark.

“Before I retired, I attended a session where one of the activities involved us thinking about what we get out of work – the new challenges, meeting people, working in a team, a sense of satisfaction.

"All of these things that we perhaps take for granted. They encouraged us to think about how we might replicate that when we retire.

“For me, volunteering with the excavations has done that. It can be quite challenging at times. I like to call it ‘extreme gardening’! But it is a wonderful combination of physical and thought-provoking work.

“It has been a real joy to work with Professor Noble and the other archaeologists and I’ve learned such a lot. It is wonderful to have interaction with students and to work alongside young people with different ways of looking at the world.”

Professor Noble and his team will use the ring and other evidence uncovered on the dig to start to answer questions about the Moray village’s past.

He added: “We will now look at the ring, evidence of buildings and other artefacts to consider whether it 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 we are still uncovering important pieces of the past, even where we least expect it.

"We are proud to have funded and supported the excavation work.”

Archaeologists will be on hand this Sunday from 10am-4pm to help the public learn more about this find and the ongoing work at Burghead.