Plunton Castle, Kirkcudbright (Arch. Journ., vol. xvi. p. 194; Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., vol. iii. p. 236).
Strathdon, Aberdeenshire (Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., vol. vi. p. 13, pl. iii. 2).
Fig. 486.—Cowlam. 1/1
Among hoards of bronze antiquities belonging to the latter part of the Bronze Period, rings of various sizes are of not unfrequent occurrence. They are usually plain and of circular section, as if formed of a piece of cylindrical wire, though actually cast solid, and do not for the most part seem to require any illustrations. Some also are lozenge-shaped in section.
In the hoard found at Marden,[1507] Kent, there were six perfect bronze rings, varying in diameter from 1⅛ to 1⅜ inch. In the Heathery Burn Cave were numerous rings of circular section, and varying in thickness from ½ inch to 1½ inch in diameter. Many of these are now in the collection of Canon Greenwell, F.R.S. One, 2½ inches in diameter, was in the hoard found at Westow,[1508] Yorkshire, and may have been an armlet. Several stout rings, about 1 inch in diameter, “probably cast in moulds,” were found with various other antiquities in bronze at Ty Mawr,[1509] Holyhead, and a number of rings of various sizes, from ⅜ inch to 1½ inch in diameter, were found in the deposit at Llangwyllog,[1510] Anglesea. There were also three small rings in the great hoard found at Pant-y-maen,[1511] Glancych.
Several rings, some of lozenge-shaped section and of delicate workmanship, were found in the hoard at Taunton,[1512] with the pin and other objects already mentioned.
Such rings may have served various purposes, but were probably used as means of connection between different straps or accoutrements. Canon Greenwell has called my attention to two separate instances of two rings being found together, in company with a bronze sword, in one case near Medomsley, Durham, and in the other near Rothbury, Northumberland.
Fig. 487.—Ireland. ½