2,000-Year-Old Gold Rings Found in Thailand by Human Bones

An archaeological dig in western Thailand turned up a pair of gold rings in the vicinity of human bones.

As reported by the Associated Press, one of the rings bears script that reads “pusarakhitasa,” which means “the one protected by Pushya.” Written in Bhrami, an ancient Indian system of writing, the allusion to Pushya refers to “one of the most auspicious zodiac signs in Indian astronomy,” according to the Thai government’s Fine Arts Department. The other gold ring is bare.

Experts have theorized that the rings, discovered at the Don Yai archaeological site about 80 miles southwest of Bangkok, were owned by a merchant of the ancient Indian caste known as the Vaishyas. They were found as part of a dig that followed the discovery of ancient bronze drums nearby.

“The site was dated to a late prehistoric era in Thailand, a period of human settlement also known as the Iron Age, established to be around 1,500 to 2,500 years ago,” according to the AP. Other finds from there include eight human skeletons, jewelry, pottery, and funerary artifacts thought to be related to burial ceremonies for wealthy people.

The Thai Fine Arts Department said it expects the excavation at Don Yai to be complete in August and that it plans to showcase the finds to the public sometime in the future.