Finger Rings with Gems from Bavaria

The Archaeological State Collection Munich holds 122 gems from Bavaria. The special value of these gems lies in the knowledge about their location of discovery - often together with context of discovery and further finds - and in the large number of original ring settings or their remains. Thus, even damaged or fragmented finger rings offer a criterion for dating the gems.

The gems can be dated from the Pre-Roman Younger Iron Age (so-called “Hallstatt Period”, ca. 800-450 BC) to the modern period, with the emphasis on the early and middle Imperial Period. The numerous gems from the Auerberg and from the fortress of Eining offer an insight into the variety of materials, ring settings and motifs.

Roman gemstones were not only made of precious stones but also serially of glass. Glass gems are almost as frequent as gems made of precious stones. The finger rings consist mainly of iron, followed by bronze, rarely of silver or gold. A re-use of Roman gems could also be determined for the Merovingian period.

Most commonly found on the gems are representations of Mercury (god of trade), Bonus Eventus (god of prosperity) and Amor (god of love), followed by Fortuna (goddess of happiness and fate), Venus (goddess of beauty, vitality and love) and Victoria (goddess of victory). The gods Minerva (goddess of wisdom and craftsmanship), Apollo (god of divination, poetry and music) and Diana (goddess of hunting) as well as Hercules (god of strength) and Bacchus (god of wine) appear more rarely in Bavaria. Motifs from Greek and Roman mythology were also adopted.

The testimonials of ancient glyptic shown in this collection represent only a part of the total number of pieces found in Bavaria. A far larger part of gems is in other museums as well as in private collections.

• The objects of the collection "Finger Rings with Gems" available in bavarikon

The other part collections of the "Archaeological Findings" available in bavarikon

• Archaeological Prehistoric Finds
• Archaeological Finds of the Roman Period
• Archaeological Mediaeval and Modern Finds
• The Coin Collection of the Archäologische Staatsstammlung
• Caches found in Bavaria
• Cemetaries and Burials from Bavaria
• Bronze-Age Swords from Bavaria
  
• The Archaeological Finds from Manching
• Documentary photos from the 19th to 21st century
• The Roman treasure trove at Weißenburg in Bavaria
• The early Roman settlement on the Auerberg, Weilheim-Schongau district

>> This collection is part of the holdings of "Archaeological Finds" of the Archäologische Staatssammlung München (Archaeological State Collection of Munich)