More artifacts: two ancient rings

Nearly doubled my small collection of ancient artifacts with these two rings. They are from the same seller as the previous artifacts I posted before, and they look legit, so I am not really worried about authenticity. Just hoping I can get some help as to if they are ancient, or medieval, etc., and any other important info about them. I find these old rings very fascinating; I know coins passed directly between peoples' hands, but I can't help but get a more personal and unique feel from these rings. These were actually worn and valued as possessions by other human beings long ago. Unfortunately the dull green one is two warped for me to put on, but when I put the other one on (carefully of course), I think "Wow. Someone many centuries ago had their finger right where mine is now." This all must sound silly to you guys but I tend think a little deeply about things sometimes (or I might just be easily entertained...).

(braces for the inevitable Gollum holding ring reference)

(this one looks like it might have had a small jewel in the middle)

 

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Not silly at all, I know exactly what you mean. They are lovely.

 

I don't think it's silly either. I have 2 of them, both wearable but too small for my finger.

 

Here is one of my "Roman Archer's Rings" (Bronze with green patina.)



Because the archer had to hold the 'string' for quite some time waiting for the order to fire, it would cut into his finger, so this ring was devised so that the ring took the pressure of the string rather than the finger and then the archers could all release at the same time for greater effect.

 

Here we have a ring from the Luristan civilization.


and a couple from the Romans

 

How old are the rings?

 

Neat stuff, I dont own anything like that.

 

Speaking of artifacts, I acquired these 2 pieces last months. I wonder if they're genuine or not. Please post any comment.

 

Great stuff guys. Thanks all for posting!

 

Nice rings. Although I recently sold off a good portion of my reference books on antiquities I can say they are late Roman to Byzantine, and of Eastern provincial source.

Well, it can be hard from scans, but they patinas look applied on those two. Notice the bright metal just under the green. That could be from improper cleaning though. The fibula is Phoenician in style.

 

Great! Was kind of worried they would be like 19th century or something. Matches perfectly with my coin collecting specialties then, thanks!

 

Nice ... that's a cool looking ring, Jango (congrats)

 

Nothing silly at all - I bought two medieval rings with the same thought in mind. One was simply too big and impractical to wear:


The othe fit on my pinky, but is made of lead. Had a nice green line on my figure after wearing it a while, and decided that was enough of that...

 

Here are 2 other tools. They look old anyway.

 

The top piece is Roman. Such small spoons were used for many things, could have been an ear scoop or spice/medicine spoon. The bottom piece I cant remember, but I think medieval. Bugs me, I have seen them in a book somewhere but I have so many! Would take much time to search out.

 

Thanks a lot KD. Are these 2 tools likely to be genuine? If so, I can get many more from the same seller.

 

Almost forgot to ask you @Ken Dorney , do the markings on the second ring mean anything?

 

Just decorative.

 

Too many copies out there which have been buried in salty soil to 'age' for a year to ever be sure. Fibula brooch copies are made in great quantity and aged too. I wouldn't trust any if them unless I had found them myself or bought from a fellow detectorist. If it comes from eastern Europe. ..... forget it.
I've been detecting on roman sites for years and years and have only found one ring, so they are not as common as the amount for sale suggests. Sorry, harsh facts.

 

I only have a couple military artifacts:


ROMAN, sling stone, c. 200 BC-400 AD, almond shaped, lead, 37x14mm, 41.22g


ROMAN, sling stone, c. 200 BC-400 AD, almond shaped, lead, 34x14mm, 42.42g


CHINA, Xinjiang, WARRING STATES Period, 475-221 BC, arrowhead, socketed leaf shaped biblade with grooves, nailhole in socket, bronze, 36x10mm, 3.91g