GLASGOW, SCOTLAND—The National reports that traces of an early medieval jewelry workshop have been uncovered at Govan Old, a 1,500-year-old churchyard on the banks of the River Clyde in southwestern Glasgow, by researchers and volunteers from Govan Heritage Trust and Clyde Archaeology. An unfinished ring made of shale was found in the workshop. Shale is thought to have been used as a less expensive alternative to jet to craft such objects. Evidence for jewelry manufacturing has been identified at other Christian and royal centers in Scotland and Europe. The presence of a jewelry workshop at the site of Govan Old supports the idea that the church there was sponsored by royals from the early medieval Kingdom of Strathclyde. To read about a cache of Viking silver and Anglo-Saxon objects, go to "Secrets of Scotland's Viking Age Hoard."
