File:Finger ring (bezel) (FindID 608659-462471).jpg

English: A tiny Roman gold finger-ring with a slender hoop and flat oval bezel incised with a stylised palm branch using linear decoration and pointillé (individual points) to define the fronds. This motif, common on Roman rings of gold, silver and bronze, symbolised victory and specifically 'victory over death' when used in the context of a burial, as it was believed to give protection from malign forces. It has been used in both Pagan and Christian contexts, and was meant to help the bearer to reach the afterlife. The diminutive size of the ring suggests it was made for a child, perhaps from the age of five to eight years old, and that it was likely from a child's burial; but rings such as this one have also been found buried with adults, who had kept them all their lives, hung as a pendant around their necks.

Parallels in gold include rings from Pompeii, Cologne and London, and its closest parallel is an example in the Römisch-Germanisches Museum in Cologne.

The type may be dated from the 1st to the 3rd century AD, but the present ring most likely dates to the 1st century AD.

Dimensions: external diameter 16.2 mm; internal diameter 14.5 mm. Weight: 1.2 g.