A Manx metal detectorist has discovered a piece of a Viking gold arm ring crafted with exceptional skill. It dates to around 1000-1100 A.D. Ronald Clucas has been metal detecting for 50 years this year, which makes the discovery downright poetic. What better way to celebrate his gold anniversary of the hobby than by finding his first piece of Viking gold?
The ring was created by plaiting eight gold rods together, a specialized technique that only a highly skilled of Viking goldsmiths could have accomplished. The surviving fragment is about 3.7cm (1.5 inches) long, a little less than half of the estimated original length, but weighs a comparatively hefty 27.26 grams, just a hair shy of one ounce of gold.
Allison Fox, Curator for Archaeology at Manx National Heritage said:
“Jewellery items such as this had several functions in the Viking Age both as prized personal possessions and visible displays of wealth. They were easily portable and were also used to cover costs in financial transactions. […]
During the Viking Age, there was a dual economy operating in the Isle of Man where both coins and bullion (silver and/or gold) were used to pay for goods and services. Viking gold is much rarer compared to finds of silver from the same period. It was usually used to create intricate pieces of jewellery.
The fragment has been trimmed twice. The terminal end was cut off. Terminals are cap pieces for a ring or necklace and as such the chunk cut off would have been a larger, heavy knob of gold. The other cut basically bisected the ring.
The arm ring goes on display today in the Viking Gallery of the Manx Museum in Douglas.
How was the metal plated with gold? Was it through electrolysis? Could that lend credence to the Baghdad batteries that were theoretically used to plate gold jewelry 3,000 years ago? Or was it a tedious and time consuming process of beating ultra thin sheets of gold around silver rods and then shaping the links crudely together? Stay curious.
As a non-native speaker, I was confused too 😀
The secret is that the gold was plaited, but not plated (a huge difference!). In other words, we have “woven” strings of gold, but the surface is still… Gold.
The “metal” is gold, but no plating involved here.
Thank you so much for the clarification. I honestly did not notice the spelling!
When I read stories like this I am always grateful that there are still plenty of honest people who report finds like this.