Silver Medieval Seal Featuring Engraved Roman Gem Unearthed in England

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Last August, an amateur archaeologist using a metal detector hit pay dirt in England when they located a medieval silver seal bearing a Roman-era intaglio, or engraved gem.

As BBC News reports, the unusual find was unearthed in the village of Gayton in Norfolk County, about 100 miles northeast of London. Researchers speculate the silver seal may have been owned by a noble who was unaware it was set with a Roman gem.

“Somebody with this caliber of seal was aristocratic and very high up,” says Helen Geake, a liaison officer with the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), which records archaeological finds made by the British public, to BBC News. “It’s still a mystery who that might have been, but these belonged to really top people—barons, bishops, the top one percent.”

According to the artifact’s PAS listing, the badly burned seal matrix depicts a winged figure, believed to be the war god Mars holding a spear, standing next to Victoria, the goddess of victory. Though the intaglio dates to the days of Roman Britain (43 to 410 A.D.), the silver seal that holds it was likely made in the 13th or 14th century.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/medieval-silver-seal-featuring-carved-roman-gem-unearthed-england-180977782/