Head gasket choices

I'm in the process of going through my Mk 4 Seeley 750, and when I pulled the head I was a little surprised to find a complete absence of any head gasket.

Closer inspection revealed steel rings let into the head, and no evidence of any sealing issues.
I'm still reassembling it so haven't checked the squish yet, but installing a head gasket at this point doesn't seem to be the right thing to do.

Anyone else seen this done?

I used to do that with copper wire as well as around the pushrods and oil return.