Magnus Hempel Naess was on a field trip with Galleberg Elementary School from Sande when he made the exciting discovery at the Midgard Historical Center. Magnus was digging near the ship mound where the major Borre find was made.
"I was digging for something like this and there it was!" the sixth grader said. Magnus noticed the ring shining in the sun and gave it to archeologist Terje Gansum, even though it was tempting to pocket it.
"We had, after all, been told to turn in anything we found," Magnus said.
Gansum believes the ring hung with others like it in a necklace.
"From the size, which is 6mm (.23 inch) wide, and the execution, which is like gold leaf, it can't take much weight and is probably part of a larger woman's piece. It is of eastern inspiration, possibly from the Finnish or Baltic region," Gansum said.
"If the ring is part of the ship's mound it is 1,100 years old, or more," Gansum said.
The students were hardly rooting through unturned soil. As early as 1852 objects have been dug out of the Borre mounds, during road work. After that the area was plowed up, and recently archeologists have been using heavy machinery to turn the earth.
"This means there are many false leads," said Gansum, who explained that finds can turn up far from the levels where they were originally buried.
Now the ring will be sent to the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo, and may become part of the Borre exhibition on display in Bygdoey. Magnus can apply for a finder's reward from the museum.
