Staff from the Portable Antiquities Scheme, the British Museum and dozens of metal detectorists have been working together to uncover the mystery of a long-lost cult to the Celtic god Totatis in Lincolnshire, dating to the late Iron Age and Roman period. For many years metal detectorists have been finding gold, silver and bronze Roman finger rings that all bear an enigmatic inscription containing three letters, reading ToT, and the majority of these come from Lincolnshire. Roman finger rings are sometimes inscribed with the name of a god who the wearer was devoted to, such as Mars, Minerva and Jupiter. The identity of the deity only known as ToT remained a mystery to scholars however, because there was no Roman or Celtic deity whose name began with the letters Tot, although scholars presumed that it was an mis-spelt abbreviation of the god Toutates, who was one of the principal deities of the Celtic world. Toutatus is known from a number of stone inscriptions in Britain and on the continent, and his name is often spelt in a variety of ways, including Teutates, Toutiorix and Teutanus. The rings are very Roman in style but contain a native inscription, which shows that the Romans were tolerant of native religion and allowed tribes to continue to worship them.

Adam Daubney, Lincolnshire Finds Liaison Officer for the Portable Antiquities Scheme has been keeping a close eye on the rings for a number of years, hoping that one day someone would find a ring with a complete inscription. Years of research and liaison with metal detectorists brought the number of rings known to fourty-four, including two elaborate gold examples, and very recently, one ring was eventually found by metal detectorist Greg Dyer which bore the inscription DEO TOTAT, confirming the deity as Totatis. The inscription translates as To the god Totat(is), and on one shoulder is the word “FELIX”, meaning “happy”. The other shoulder of the ring is missing, however there is a common Roman phrase “Vtere felix”, which basically means “use (this and be) happy”, and so the ring reads “To the God Totatis, use this and be happy”. Although it is unclear whether the ring is the object dedicated to the god, or whether it relates to the wearer of the ring, what is clear is that in the 2nd and 3rd century AD in Lincolnshire there was a strong tribal cult worshipping the deity, perhaps even attracting more followers than the traditional Roman gods such as Mars and Minerva.

There are very few ancient documents that mention Toutatis, however those that do paint a picture of a fearful warrior god who demanded human sacrifices. According to a document written in the 9th century, Worshippers of Toutatis used to plunge his victims headfirst into a vat of liquid until drowned.

What is furthermore fascinating about the rings is that their distribution highlights the tribal territory of the Iron Age tribe that existed at the time of the Roman conquest. The tribe known from inscriptions were called the Corieltauvi, and they covered the region east of the River Trent through Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire.

This evidence shows us that the native British population in the region were still acting and moving as a unified tribe well in to the Roman period. The old thought that the Romans invaded, conquered and ruled is now further under question based on this new evidence.

It seems that the cult died out with the Saxon invasions of the 5th century and was later replaced by Christianity, whose god recommended people love each other rather than plunge them headfirst into vats of liquid.