EXPERTS have appealed for people to have their archaeological finds recorded for posterity, as a priceless medieval ring found in Durham goes on display.

The ring, dating from the 15th century, was found by a metal detectorist in 2014 and declared as treasure.

The Museum of Archaeology, with support from Victoria & Albert Purchase Grant Fund and The Headley Trust, was able to purchase the ring at an undisclosed price and last week put it on permanent display in the Living on the Hills gallery, the new home of the Museum of Archaeology, within Durham’s Palace Green Library.

To celebrate the occasion the museum invited anyone who had unearthed an object locally, to bring it along to a free identification session today (Friday, July 17).

Among those visiting was Michael Hopton, 45, and his son Marrick, 14, of Bishop Auckland, with their first recordable finds since they took up the hobby earlier this year.

Local Finds Liaison Officer from the Portable Antiquities Scheme, Ellie Cox, identified a belt buckle with integral plate found in a field in Barnard Castle area as being medieval, and a trade token found near Lanchester as being from the 17th or 18th century.

Nine-year-old Toren Kell, of the Durham area, brought in a large iron key found in a shed which thought to be his home's first front door key.

Miss Cox said: “A huge part of part of our work is outreach. We record finds found by public and place it on an online database which is accessible to the members of the public.

“It is about ordinary people finding stuff about ordinary people in the past.

“Objects such as these (brought in today) are really important in the sense that it is all part of a big jigsaw puzzle and we still don’t have most of the pieces.

"But we are filling them in little by little and we are seeing who was doing what, where and when.”

Miss Cox urged everyone from field walkers, to gardeners and metal detectorists to help "build up this incredibly rich picture of activities throughout the whole of County Durham".

To report your finds contact Miss Cox at ellie.cox@durham.gov.uk.For more information about the Portable Antiquities Scheme visit https://finds.org.uk.

Living on the Hills reveals the lives of the people who lived in Durham over thousands of years, displaying the tools, cups, bowls and other everyday objects they used.

Museum curator Gemma Lewis said: “It is wonderful to be able to add this ring to the gallery. The ring is decorated with images of the five wounds of Christ surrounded by drops, thought to represent drops of Jesus’ blood. During the medieval period the wounds of Christ were thought to have protective qualities.”

Admission to the Living on the Hills gallery is free. It is open from 10am to 5pm from Tuesday to Sunday and from noon to 5pm on Mondays and Bank Holidays.