20/09/2026
Incredible find:
https://www.facebook.com/share/1LdH4QRFBR/?mibextid=wwXIfr
BREAKING NEWS! Archaeologists Find Early Medieval Jewellery at Govan Old! 💍
Archaeologists and community volunteers on an excavation in the 1,500-year-old churchyard of Govan Old, Glasgow, have unearthed evidence of an early medieval jewellery workshop and the carving of finger rings from shale rock.
One recent find in particular - an unfinished finger ring known as a roughout - gives a rare insight into the fashions favoured by the high-status inhabitants of the site between 1,000 and 1,500 years ago, when Govan Old was the royal centre of Christianity for an early medieval people known as the Clyde Britons.
Previously, excavations in the 1990s had revealed finds of similar pieces of jewellery, with the latest examples further indicating the popularity of shale finger rings, a material possibly used to resemble rare and expensive jet, among the fashionable church and secular elites.
The discovery also adds to a picture of light industrial activity in the ecclesiastical complex at early medieval Govan Old, known to have been used as a Christian centre since approximately AD 500, making it one of the earliest known Christian centres in the lands that would become Scotland.
The manufacture of high-status jewellery is well known at elite Christian and royal centres in both the lands that would become Scotland and across European Christendom, and the growing assemblage at Govan Old - home of the famous collection of early medieval carved stone sculpture known as the Govan Stones - reinforces the picture of Govan as a royally-sponsored church centre of huge importance and wealth.
The Clyde Britons appear to have used Govan Old as their principal ecclesiastical site since the early sixth century AD, with burials discovered in the 1990s excavations next to the present A-listed church scientifically dated to that period.
WHO WERE THE CLYDE BRITONS?
Originally known as the Kingdom of Alt Clut, the political centre of the Clyde Britons had been located at Dumbarton Rock - known in their Northern Brittonic language, which was related to Old Welsh, as Alt Clut (‘Rock of the Clyde’) - before Viking forces seized it in AD 870 after a four-month siege.
Thereafter, the royal family appear to have moved to Partick, directly opposite their already ancient centre of Christian worship at Govan.
Professor Stephen Driscoll of Govan Heritage Trust and Govan Workspace Ltd said:
“Exploring Govan’s exceptional archaeology over the past 30 years has been a great privilege, but the most rewarding part of it has been working with the many volunteers, students and colleagues whose energy, enthusiasm and friendship drive the project”.
The dig and survey, led by Professor Stephen Driscoll of Govan Heritage Trust and undertaken by volunteers and Clyde Archaeology, has been investigating the ancient graveyard throughout the summer, on a project that began in 2023, the year in which the early medieval carving known as the Govan Warrior came to light.
THE DIG CONTINUES - VIKING-AGE FESTIVAL - DOORS OPEN DAYS FESTIVAL
The dig continues until Sunday the 20th of September. To celebrate the end of the excavations the Govan Stones Museum, which contains the large and impressive collection of early medieval carved stones found over the centuries, is hosting a Viking Age Festival on Saturday the 19th and Sunday the 20th.
Part of Glasgow Doors Open Days Festival, visitors will be able to meet traditional craftspeople, arms experts, and artisans from the 10th century Kingdom of Strathclyde, with interactive demonstrations and hands-on fun for families.
Open 11am-4pm both days, the Viking Festival, which will take place both inside Govan Old and the surrounding churchyard, is completely free of charge having been sponsored by the The National Lottery Heritage Fund Scotland and Glasgow City Heritage Trust.
Govan Heritage Trust initiated the current excavation programme and probing survey of the graveyard to map and digitally document unrecorded monuments dating from the 17th and 19th centuries.
The main focus of the excavation is in the southeast of the churchyard where the archaeologists have reopened ‘test’ trenches that were first excavated in 1996 for the tv show, Time Team. Those excavations uncovered fragments of a 1,300-yearold roadway, which we believe once connected the churchyard with the ancient Doomster Hill, an important meeting and ceremonial place which used to stand near Govan Cross.
These excavations are also close to where the Govan Sarcophagus was discovered in 1855. This carved stone coffin is now on display inside Govan Old, but its lid was never found. It may still lie buried somewhere in this part of the churchyard, one of the many reasons why this area attracted archaeological attention.
Archaeological excavations in the 1990s uncovered two early Christian burials beneath the foundations of a later church; these burials were radiocarbon-dated between the 5th and 6th centuries AD (AD 435-601 and AD 474 -601).
The Govan Stones were produced by the Viking-age Kingdom of Strathclyde, a lost kingdom of Old Welsh-speaking Britons who dominated the Clyde valley from the 5th - 11th centuries AD.
