You can see how the craftsman made this ring in the 6th or 7th century: hammering and flattening a strip of gold, bashing the pattern into it, and folding the strip over itself to create a hoop. Alloying was dicey back then, so gold rings tended to be nearly pure, as this one is. Anglo-Saxons ruled. The Romans had left Britain (but their culture remained, and still does to this day). The Vikings hadn't yet begun to cause trouble in England. Christianity was just being introduced. Incredible.