A gold marriage ceremony ring from the Roman period has been found within the historic metropolis of Bononia (modern-day Vidin) in Bulgaria. It weighs a hefty 26.63 grams and dates to the second half of the 2nd century A.D.
The central plate of the ring is oval and incorporates a picture of a pair, typical iconography on this interval for “marital constancy rings” which had been exchanged between newlyweds. The oval plate was soldered to the ring band which is adorned with cannulae (parallel grooves) on each side. It was domestically produced, seemingly in a goldsmith’s workshop within the close by metropolis of Ratsiaria, immediately the village or Archar.
Bononia was based within the late 1st century or the start of the 2nd century. It’s believed to have originated because the navy fort of the First Cisipadensium Cohort. The sone and brick fortress was constructed through the reign of Constantine (306-337 A.D.). It had an oblong structure, with its lengthy sides aligned with the Danube River, one of many Empire’s pure boundary traces. The partitions had been massively thick, greater than 14 toes extensive on the base, and had equally huge towers at common intervals. The towers had been round with inside diameters of 65 toes with decagonal higher sections.
That is the eleventh consecutive 12 months of excavation of Bononia, and the main target was on totally exploring Tower No. 10, one in every of solely two towers with stays nonetheless seen immediately. The ring was found 20 toes under the floor in a layer from the 2nd-Third century on the final day of this 12 months’s excavation.
The positioning has now been winterized, however archaeologists will return subsequent 12 months to proceed the exploration of historic Bononia. The municipality plans to uncover as a lot of Bononia as attainable and open it to the general public as a slice of the town’s wealthy historical past as one Bulgaria’s oldest cities.
