A stunning gold ring lost at a medieval castle in Slovakia over 700 years ago has been rediscovered. The jewelry was likely worn by a bishop and includes an unusual Sri Lankan reddish-purple sapphire set in a band flanked by lions.
"Such a ring embodied deep spiritual meanings, protective powers, and societal status, allowing the wearer to display wealth while also seeking the divine protection associated with the symbols they bore," Noémi Beljak Pažinová, an archaeologist at Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia, told Live Science in an email.
