A remarkable ring believed to be around a 1,000-years-old has been unearthed in a castle tower’s underground chamber.
The gold band has been dated to the 11th to 12th century.
It’s “unique due to its adornment”, according to the archaeologist who found it at the Wawel Royal Castle.
The castle is located on Wawel hill in Kraków, Poland, and was the residence of the country’s rulers.
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The ring was found by archaeologist Jerzy Trzebiński during a dig in the underground chambers of one of the towers.
He found it on top of a stone structure likely to have been part of a defensive wall.
Trzebiński says it’s unique because only a few gold rings from the early mediaeval period have been found in the whole of Poland.
And the few that have been found typically feature purely geometric patterns or lack ornamentation altogether.
The ring found in Wawel Castle depicts two human faces.
Trzebiński says it may portray the Roman god Janus, who was usually represented by a double-faced head.
The ring lacks references to Christianity, which was introduced in Poland in the 10th century.
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