18 September 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Pictish ring believed to be more than 1,000-years-old found during Burghead fort dig in Scotland

A “remarkable” Pictish ring thought to be more than 1,000 years old has been unearthed by an amateur archaeologist on a dig at the Burghead Fort in Moray, Scotland.

Burghead Fort was a Pictish promontory fort on the site now occupied by the small town of Burghead in Moray, Scotland. The area was thought to have been ‘archaeologically vandalized’ in the 1800s when a town was built on top of it.

The ring, whose center is believed to be garnet or red glass, is presently being examined for analysis by the post-excavation service of the National Museum of Scotland. It is hoped to contribute to our understanding of the enigmatic Picts, whose kingdoms have been lost to time as they had no written record.

Before being found by a volunteer in a dig overseen by the University of Aberdeen, the kite-shaped ring with a garnet or red glass center had been hidden at the Burghead fort for over a millennium.

Despite being a recognized Pictish site, most people believed that its historical significance had been lost when the town of Burghead was built in the 1800s, enclosing most of the fort and removing the stone that was still needed for construction.

A reconstruction of Burghead (Alice Watterson)

Among the families encouraged to relocate to the new town to support the fishing industry were the ancestors of John Ralph – a former engineer and graduate of the University of Aberdeen who has enjoyed a 50-year association with his alma mater.  When he retired, John Ralph had signed up as a volunteer for the Burghead digs. On the last day of the dig, he found the ring.

Mr Ralph said: “It is a real thrill to dig up an artifact in the knowledge that you are probably the first person to see it for 1,000-1,500 years. It becomes a real guessing game of who owned it, what they used it for, and how it was lost.”

University’s Professor of Archaeology, Gordon Noble has led excavation work, funded by Historical Environment Scotland, over the last three years which has shed new light on the importance of the site and enabled the development of 3-D reconstructions of how it might once have looked.

Professor Noble says that what he was presented with was ‘truly remarkable’.

Photo: University of Aberdeen

“Even before the conservation work we could see it was something really exciting as despite more than a thousand years in the ground we could see glints of the possible garnet setting.

“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. We certainly weren’t expecting to find something like this lying around the floor of what was once a house but that had appeared of low significance so, in typical fashion, we had left work on it until the final day of the dig.”

Professor Noble added: “We will now look at the ring, evidence of buildings, and other artifacts to consider whether the ring was crafted on the site and who such an important piece of jewelry 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.”

John Ralph with the ring. Photo: University of Aberdeen

The Picts were descended from native Iron Age people who lived in what is now Scotland, north of the Rivers Clyde and Forth, between 300 and 900 AD, according to the Highland Pictish Trail.

While archaeology can reveal a great deal about these communities, information regarding their kingdoms, cultures, and beliefs has been lost to myth and mystery because none of their written records have survived to this day.

The public will be able to learn more about this find and the ongoing work at Burghead at an open day to be held at the fort on Sunday, September 8 from 10 am to 4 pm.

University of Aberdeen

Cover Image: University of Aberdeen

Related Articles

Early Imperial cemetery in Nîmes, in the south of France

4 October 2022

4 October 2022

Inrap archaeologists excavating at Nîmes in southern France have uncovered a cemetery dating to the first to second centuries AD...

Advanced imaging techniques reveal secrets of sealed ancient Egyptian animal coffins

21 April 2023

21 April 2023

Researchers from the British Museum have gained valuable insight into the contents of six sealed ancient Egyptian animal coffins using...

Beyond ‘Man the Hunter’: Stone Age Burials in Latvia Reveal Gender Equality

12 September 2025

12 September 2025

Zvejnieki cemetery in Latvia, one of Europe’s largest Stone Age burial grounds, has revealed remarkable insights into equality, ritual, and...

2800-year-old two Swords found in Germany from the start of the Iron Age

8 June 2022

8 June 2022

During archaeological excavations in preparation for the construction of the fire station in the Frieding district of Andechs in southern...

Archaeologists discover a 4,000-year-old stone board game in Oman

10 January 2022

10 January 2022

The joint Polish-Omani archaeology team has discovered a 4,000-year-old stone board game whilst excavating a Bronze Age and Iron Age...

Underwater Archaeologists Discover a 7,000-Year-Old Road in Croatia

8 May 2023

8 May 2023

A team of underwater archaeologists from the University of Zadar has discovered the sunken ruins of a 7,000-year-old road that...

Archaeologists Uncover Monumental 2,800-Year-Old Lydian Palace in Sardis, Birthplace of Money

15 August 2025

15 August 2025

Archaeologists excavating the UNESCO World Heritage site of Sardis, located in the Salihli district of Manisa, Türkiye, have uncovered the...

Medieval ship found off the west coast of Sweden

5 February 2022

5 February 2022

A previously undiscovered wreck has been found outside of Fjällbacka on the Swedish west coast. Analysis of wood samples shows...

5,000-Year-Old “Küllüoba Bread” Discovered in Türkiye Reveals Ancient Baking and Fertility Rituals

30 May 2025

30 May 2025

5,000-year-old bread found in Küllüoba Höyük, Turkey reveals ancient baking methods and fertility rituals. Unique archaeological discovery with rich nutritional...

Ice Age turtle finds near Magdeburg point to canned food from the Stone Age

2 May 2024

2 May 2024

Experts have recovered around 50,000-year-old turtle shell fragments from the Barleben-Adamsee gravel pit near Magdeburg. The turtles could have been...

A Rare Late Neolithic Period Seal found in Domuztepe Mound

25 August 2022

25 August 2022

A rare Late Neolithic Seal was discovered during the 2022 excavations of the Domuztepe Mound (Domuztepe Höyük), located on the...

Comb and gold hair-ring dating back more than 3,000 years unearthed in south Wales

14 July 2023

14 July 2023

Archeologists in south Wales, have unearthed a golden hair ring and the oldest wooden comb ever found in the U.K....

Exciting Discovery of oldest English coin in Canada

16 November 2022

16 November 2022

A gold coin found on the south coast of Newfoundland, Canada’s easternmost province, may be the oldest known English coin...

Remains of ‘female vampire’ found with sickle across her neck and a padlocked toe in Poland

2 September 2022

2 September 2022

A skeleton of what archaeologists believe may have been a 17th-century female vampire has been discovered near Bydgoszcz in Poland....

A Sacred Area from the Copper Age and 5000-years-old A Stele Decorated Discovered in Italy

24 August 2024

24 August 2024

The remains of a sacred area that dates back at least four thousand years have been discovered during excavations for...