1,500-Year-Old Gold Ring With Possible Royal Connection Discovered in Denmark by Man With Metal Detector

A metal detectorist in southern Denmark made the “find of a lifetime” when he unearthed a 1,500-year-old gold ring.

Experts say the ancient relic may have belonged to a powerful family with royal ties, Knewz.com has learned.

A 1,500-year-old gold ring unearthed in Denmark may have belonged to a previously unknown powerful family with royal ties, according to experts. By: The National Museum of Denmark

The ring features a red semi-precious stone at its center surrounded by a gold plate with an ornate border, spiraled designs on its underside and “trefoil knobs” at its base, The National Museum of Denmark said in a statement on Monday, February 19.

It was found in an area known as Southern Jutland, “where an unknown elite may have ruled for hundreds of years,” the museum said in the statement, when translated from Danish to English.

The style, according to the museum, is characteristic of Frankish design, suggesting a connection to the Merovingians, a royal family that ruled the Kingdom of France beginning in the 5th century A.D.

The ring features spirals on its underside, and the craftsmanship style is characteristic of Frankish design, the museum said. By: The National Museum of Denmark

“The gold ring not only reveals a possible new princely family in Emmerlev, but also connects the area with one of Europe’s largest centers of power in the Iron Age,” Kirstine Pommergaard, a museum inspector who studied the ring, said in the translated statement. “The gold ring is probably a woman’s ring and may have belonged to a prince’s daughter who was married to a prince in Emmerlev.”

She added that the artifact displays “an impressive level of craftsmanship that is difficult to imitate today.”

Analysis revealed the ring dated back to sometime between 400 and 600 A.D., and Pommergaard said it may have been a “diplomatic gift” in an era where elites married into alliances.

A red semi-precious stone sits at the center of the ring, surrounded by a gold plate with an ornate border and

“The Merovingians were interested in entering into a network with families and individuals who could control trade and resources in an area,” she said. “Perhaps the princely family in Emmerlev had control over an area between Ribe and Hedeby and thus secured trade in the area.”

Lars Nielsen happened upon the relic while searching the town of Emmerley with his metal detector “one spring day,” the museum said.

“I was so excited and overwhelmed that I could hardly say anything, and that’s not usually something that characterizes me, but it is without a doubt my best find so far,” Nielsen said, according to the translated statement. “To make such a unique and one-of-a-kind find is completely surreal. I am very proud and honored to be able to contribute a piece to our shared history both locally and nationally.”

Lars Nielsen made the discovery with his metal detector in a town called Emmerley in southern Denmark. By: The National Museum of Denmark

The item was initially handed over to the Museum Sønderjylland, which is also in Denmark, where it took museum inspector Anders Hartvig by surprise.

“We’ve never seen anything like it out here,” he said. “Many discoveries have been made over time that point to global trade connections at the Wadden Sea. The gold ring substantiates that there has also been an elite who have had something to do with music. Not everyone has had contact with the Merovingian.”

The gold ring was found not far from the famous “Golden Horns,” decorative artifacts that date back to around 400 A.D.

“The person who had the ring probably also knew about the people who had the golden horns. Maybe they were related,” Hartvig said. “Together with other recent finds, it paints a picture that Southern Jutland has had a greater influence than previously thought, and that the Wadden Sea was not closed in on itself, but had an aristocratic presence with important trade links to the south.”