It was now possible to see the detail of the ring. There were curved wings on either side of the oval bezel (centre). The bezel would have had a setting of some sort although that is now lost; the only trace was a green powder which might once have been glass. It was not a ring of great value and is similar to many Romano-British rings of the 3rd century.

So, our young man might have been a farmer, craftsman or villager from the small community which grew up along this important route into the Roman colonia at what is now known as Dringhouses. In his lifetime he would have seen legionaries march along the road to the legionary fortress, watched cart loads of limestone brought from Tadcaster for the construction of public and private buildings in Eboracum. He may even have seen the Emperor Septimius Severus on his visit to the city in 209–11. How he died we will never know but he has achieved a sort of immortality. The finds from the excavation are not in a museum but they are on display in the pub — now aptly renamed The Fox and Roman.

Find number 100, 1997.70. Not published. Xray no.4265. Dimensions: diameter 24mm, width 4.5mm, thickness 2.5mm
For further information on Roman finds and pottery from York see The Archaeology of York 17/10, Finds from the Fortress by H.E.M. Cool, G. Lloyd Morgan and A.D. Hooley (1995) and The Archaeology of York 16/8, Roman Pottery from York by Jason Monaghan (1997).

The ring and pot are on display at the Fox and Roman public house, Tadcaster Road, York.