Top image: The 1,800-year-old Roman golden ring found in Brittany, bearing the likeness of Venus Victrix.

Archaeologists carrying out at extensive dig near the city of Pacé in the Brittany region of northwestern France unearthed a striking and unusual gold ring dating to the second or third century BC. This ring features the image of Venus Victrix, a Roman version of the goddess Venus who represented victory in battle. Julius Caesar claimed to be descended from Venus Victrix, which helped legitimize his claim to a position of leadership.

This exciting discovery was announced in a press release by the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP). The ring was one of the more intriguing finds during the ongoing INRAP excavations at Pacé, which have uncovered a variety of artifacts and evidence of thriving agricultural settlements spanning from the Late Bronze Age to the Middle Ages.

Currently judged to be approximately 1,800 years old, the gold ring features a precisely chiseled mount and a face that is made from a type of bluish-black onyx known as nicolo. This extremely valuable ring is decorated with an intricately carved engraving of Venus Victrix, who was renowned in ancient Rome as the embodiment of beauty and strength.

This sparkling golden ring was undoubtedly owned by an elite Roman of high wealth and status. It likely would have served as both a piece of jewelry worn for decoration and as a personal seal that linked its elite owner to a popular goddess. Venus artifacts from Roman times have been found in other locations in Europe over the years, revealing just how important this goddess was to the Roman people.

The gold ring was discovered alongside a Roman road that would have been installed sometime between the second and fourth centuries. This road was exceptionally well-preserved, although it has been scarred by wheel ruts that show it would have been heavily traveled in its day. The road was constructed to fit in with the natural terrain, and is bordered by dug ditches that would have ensured water drainage on both sides.

Area along Roman road where INRAP excavations unearthed golden Venus ring plus ruins and artifacts from Late Bronze Age, Early Iron Age and medieval settlements.

Roads of this nature connected Roman rural settlements with each other and with larger cities, and were also used by traders to move from one marketplace location to another. Based on all of their findings, the INRAP researchers believe this particular road served a specific Roman settlement, which would have likely been occupied for a few centuries while the lands of France (ancient Gaul) were under Roman Empire control.

Roman Road Fuels Prosperity of Medieval Village

While the amazing gold ring represents one of the highlights of the INRAP discoveries near Pacé, in fact it is just one of the important finds that mark the latest round of excavations as special.

During these digs, the archaeologists also unearthed the ruins of a medieval village that would have been occupied sometime between the fifth and 10th centuries. Divided into squared plots connected by walkways, the agriculturally-oriented settlement included houses, pastures for animals, fields for planting, and silos that would have been used to store grain. The residential structures were built from wood and earth and covered with roofs made from plant-based materials, revealing some fascinating new details about early medieval construction techniques as they were practiced in the Brittany region.

Examples of ceramic pottery pieces excavated from the ruins of a medieval farming settlement in Brittany, France.

Incredibly, this was not the only ancient village found in proximity to the Roman road. The INRAP researchers also uncovered ruins and marks on the landscape left by a Late Bronze Age (1,000 to 750 BC in Europe) settlement along the excavation area’s northern boundary.

They recovered a wealth of interesting artifacts here, including pieces of ceramic vases and fragments of terracotta molds that would have been used to make bronze weapons and tools.

On the southern end of the excavation, the archaeologists found signs of yet another distinct settlement, this one possibly dating back to the Early Iron Age (750 to 600 BC in France). The primary discovery here was a pair of small, curved, dug enclosures, one of which forms a circle of nearly 50 feet (15 meters) in diameter. It is believed this might have been the location of a tomb, indicating that a stable Iron Age settlement of some kind must have been located nearby.

How Ancient Peoples Thrived in Northwestern France

According to the INRAP archaeologists, a network of roads built in ancient times would have played a significant role in determining settlement patterns in the countryside of Brittany. The road discovered during the current digs, which is undoubtedly of Roman origin, was approximately 26 feet (eight meters) wide and covered with highly durable quartz gravel. This would have been most heavily used during the Roman period, but its presence (and its linkages to other roadways) would have ensured that settlers would continue to occupy the area in later eras.

Cross-sectional view of underground silo used to store grain at medieval settlement in Brittany, France.

The medieval settlement that was unearthed testifies to this, and it is clear from the level of development this farming community enjoyed it was prosperous and not isolated from the outside world. Its densely-constructed stone silos were installed underground, to ensure safe long-term storage of grains, and it also had several pits used to hold water and multiple community hearths and ovens that would have been used to prepare food for storage or immediate consumption.

The remnants of old furniture were excavated during the INRAP explorations of this village, along with a variety of ceramics including cooking pots, tableware, and storage vases for foods or liquids. Granite and sandstone millstones used to grind grain were also unearthed, as well as stone sharpeners that would have been used on metal knives and agricultural tools.

It seems the builders of the medieval village reused tiles and bricks from the older Roman settlement to construct some of their structures, which testifies to the durability of the materials used during Roman times. They also used adobe and plaster in construction, and the study of how these materials were made and applied should reveal a lot of information about medieval building practices and techniques.

Evidence suggests this village was abandoned at some point in the 10th century, ending a pattern of organized occupation that likely extended back as much as 2,000 years. Fortunately significant quantities of ruins and artifacts were left behind, giving archaeologists an opportunity to uncover some enlightening information about how the ancient residents of northwestern France lived and worked on a daily basis.