An enamelled Iron Age finger ring, which has seen heavy wear, was found near Castle Stuart. The hoop had broken in antiquity, and much of the enamelling is lost. Double-trumpet mouldings sit at the bezel-hoop junction. The enamelling has a base of opaque red with other colours set into it; surviving elements suggest they once formed a triskele. The multicoloured nature of these inlays suggests reuse of bits of glass beads. The findspot lies close to a known later prehistoric settlement (NH75SW 35).
Claimed as Treasure Trove (TT 181/12), allocated to Inverness Museum. <1>

Information from the Treasure Trove database describes a large finger ring with flat bezel and fragments of enamel and glass remaining. See attached TT report.<2> <3>

Listed under Acc. No. 2013.005. <4>

The ring is discussed in a chapter written by Fraser Hunter titled 'Art in Context: the massive metalworking tradition of North-East Scotland', published 2014 in 'Celtic art in Europe: making connections: Essays in honour of Vincent Megaw on his 80th birthday'. The rings is likely to have derived from the later pre-historic settlement discovered in the same field (see MHG51718). <5>

Four figure grid reference given is marginal. A full GR for the finger ring is held by Treasure Trove. GW 10/07/20

<1> Hunter, F, 2013, Petty, Castle Stuart, Casual Find, Discovery Excav Scot, New, vol. 14, pp. 116 (Text/Publication/Article). SHG28246.

<2> Treasure Trove, 2019, Highland Finds from Treasure Trove Annual Reports 2004-18, TT 181/12 (Dataset/Database File). SHG28208.

<3> Treasure Trove, 2019, Treasure Trove Artefact Reports for Highland Area 1994-2018, TT 181/12 (Text/Record Form). SHG28370.

<4> Inverness Museum & Art Gallery, Inverness Museum & Art Gallery Accession registers, 2013.005 (Collection/Catalogue). SHG25836.

<5> Hunter, F, 2014, ‘Art in context: the massive metalworking tradition of north-east Scotland’, in Gosden, Christopher et al (eds) Celtic Art in Europe. Making connections. Essays in honour of Vincent Megaw on his 80th birthday, pp. 337 (Text/Publication/Monograph). SHG28564.