Ring

A ring has a hollow hexagonal shield and a plate bracket. The shield is engraved with an image resembling several connected crosses. Shoots branch out from the central crossbar in two sides. The shield’s field is bordered by an ornamental band of curling shoots with half-palmets on the niello background. On the shield’s corners there are semi-oval bulges emphasized by fan-shaped lines. The engraving lines, applied with a tool that left a jagged mark, are not deep. This excludes the use of the ring as a seal.
Rings with shields of a similar shape are more characteristic of the Eastern world. They appeared in Rus, perhaps with eastern merchants, but eventually local craftsmen began to make such rings. The shields usually had an image, which more often had only a decorative function, but sometimes it could be heraldic symbols or certain signs that were perceived as magically protective. The image on the shield of our ring was interpreted by some researchers as a variant of the princely sign, but its real meaning remains unsolved.