Recent Finds
Find of the week
What a find! Last week Tamsin, one of our archaeologists, found this bronze age socketed axe during an evaluation in Hertfordshire. Socketed axes were developed during the Late Bronze Age, an evolution on the earlier “palstave” type axes which characterised the Middle Bronze Age in Britain and Ireland. This example has a side loop that…
Read MoreVery rare Roman coins identified!
We’re accustomed to unearthing fascinating artefacts, but every so often, something extraordinary is discovered which sends ripples through the archaeological community. During recent excavations in Suffolk, our team found two very unusual Roman coins. Dr Peter Guest, who has undertaken extensive research on the coins has just posted his findings on LinkedIn. The coins in…
Read More3D Iron Age
For #FindsFriday we’re thrilled to share a 3D model of an amazing find from the Middle Iron Age — a pole ladder, one of the earliest examples of its kind found in the UK. The ladder was discovered largely intact, leaning against the side of a well. With two siderails and five rungs carved from…
Read MoreA possible first in the country!
For #FindsFriday, a repaired dolium from Newgate Street in the City of London. Dolia are large, neckless jars usually associated with viticulture; they could also have been used as storage or preserving jars. They’re relatively rare in Roman Britain. The complex lead brackets used to repair this example are exceptional and very few parallels are…
Read MoreA Skeumorphic Friday Find
This funky piece of late Iron Age pottery is a recent find at a site in Buckinghamshire. It’s a ceramic foot for a quad pod cauldron, imitating continental examples in metal. You can see it is heavily decorated with slashes, dots etc – this is probably skeumorphic, representing the rivet and hammer marks on the…
Read MoreLifting an Anglo-Saxon sword
If you enjoyed seeing the gold pendant, with possible Christian symbolism, from our cemetery site near Winchester on ‘Digging for Britain’ this week, here’s an Anglo-Saxon sword from the same site for our Friday Find. About half of the 100+ burials contained grave goods, which, along with other aspects of the cemetery, suggest a community…
Read MoreCWR Portable Medieval Whetstone
For #FindsFriday, a well-worn whetstone, or honestone, from our Central Winchester Regeneration site. Dating back to the medieval period, this whetstone would have been used to quickly sharpen knives for cooking and crafting. The addition of a hole allowed the stone to be easily attached to clothing, ensuring portability and quick access. This artefact was…
Read MoreIron Age Cosmetic Grinder
For #FindsFriday, here’s Luci with a lovely cosmetic grinder in the shape of a bird from a pit on a late Iron Age settlement!
Read MoreLower-Middle Palaeolithic Handaxe
This battered but fascinating find is a heavily rolled and mineral-stained biface, probably a handaxe, dating back to the Lower-Middle Palaeolithic period. It measures 87mm long, 82mm wide, and 44mm thick, and is of lenticular/cordiform shape. One side displays centripetal working with opposed removals on the other. Its well-worn condition indicates long periods spent within…
Read MoreJaw-dropping #FindsFriday
‘PEACE 1856’ pipe
This clay tobacco pipe, which reads ‘PEACE 1856’, commemorates the treaty of Paris which ended the Crimean War. The pipe was made in Winchester at the Bridge Street kiln site by Richard Goodall who ran the site from 1860 until at least 1914. The pipe mould has a long and complex history; it was originally…
Read MoreFinding the ‘Darlington Eagle’
Meet Rowan, who was lucky enough to find the Roman ‘Darlington Eagle’ on their first ever site as a commercial archaeologist! For the Festival of Archaeology Rowan shares the thrill of finding this amazing artefact and why they love working in commercial archaeology. Rowan outlines theories about the eagle put forward so far… is it…
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