‘Remarkable’ Pictish ring discovered by volunteer

A "remarkable" Pictish ring thought to be at least 1,000 years old has been discovered by a volunteer on a dig in Moray.

The find was made by John Ralph at the site of a fort in Burghead.

It is thought the settlement was a significant seat of power within the Pictish kingdom between AD500 and AD1000.

Delighted Mr Ralph - who described himself as an "enthusiastic volunteer" - was on a dig being led by the University of Aberdeen. He felt like a "striker scoring a goal" with the find.

Former engineer and University of Aberdeen graduate Mr Ralph, 68, had signed up as a volunteer for the Burghead digs when he retired.

He said he had many moments over a two-week excavation where he thought he had discovered something, only for experts to tell him he had a knack for finding "shiny pebbles".

So when he found something else that looked interesting, he did not hold out much hope.

It was only when he showed it to someone else on the dig whose eyes lit up that he realised he might finally have found something special.

"I had recently retired and saw a post looking for volunteers to help with the Burghead excavations," he said.

“My sister still lives in Burghead and it sounded interesting so I thought why not. I have now joined three different digs there, each for two weeks.

“I thoroughly enjoyed them all but my initial enthusiasm for finds was somewhat dented by my knack of getting excited for shiny pebbles. I had found a few interesting items including bone pins and it was great being part of the team, which was the real draw."

He told BBC Scotland News: "I was just clearing the floor of a building and at first I saw a metal pin and then lo and behold, there was the ring.

“It was like a striker scoring a goal.

"It was only when I showed it to the volunteer next to me and he got excited that I thought it might really be something. You are always a bit surprised when you get something like that.”

Professor of Archaeology at the university, Gordon Noble, has led excavation work - funded by Historic Environment Scotland - over the last three years.

"John was digging and then came over and said ‘look what I’ve found’," Prof Noble said.

"What he handed over was truly incredible.

"We could see it was something really exciting as despite more than 1,000 years in the ground we could see glints of the possible garnet setting."

He added: "There are very few Pictish rings which have ever been discovered and those we do know about usually come from hoards which were placed in the ground deliberately for safekeeping in some way."

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