Record ID: MAS-100017
Object type: MAMMAL REMAINS
Broad period: UNKNOWN
County: Essex
Workflow stage: Published
This cattle mandible, or lower jaw, is comprised of two incomplete sections; cattle mandibles are rarely encountered in the archaeological record as conjoined pairs (Zhang et al. 2013). The smaller piece is an incomplete section featuring both pre-molars and molars. The larger piece is fairly complete, with the exception of teeth, extending all the way to the part in which the incisors and canines would be located. This front section is separated from the molar and pre-molar root holes by the diastema. Providing a relative date for this cattle mandible is challenging without further e…
Created on: Tuesday 18th October 2016
Last updated: Monday 16th January 2017
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-100008
Object type: MAMMAL REMAINS
Broad period: UNKNOWN
County: Northumberland
Workflow stage: Published
This tooth is a cattle (Bos spp) molar from the upper jaw. It has four crescentic cusps (polycuspid) forming a square crown, as well as four root elements. These characteristics are typical of selenodont teeth which are found in ruminant herbivores (e.g. cattle, goats, sheep, or deer). Viewed from the side, the crown of the tooth forms triangular profiles which, in combination with ridges, makes the sideways jaw motion of ruminants an effective way to break-up tough plant matter. Thus their function as crushing and grinding teeth. The alternating layers of enamel, dentine and cementum…
Created on: Monday 12th September 2016
Last updated: Tuesday 27th September 2016
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-100010
Object type: FOOD AND DRINK SERVING CONTAINER
Broad period: ROMAN
County: Essex
Workflow stage: Published
This is a group of nine sherds of ceramic, of which six are samian ware (also called terra sigillata). Samian pottery is a mould-made, glossy red, mass-produced, fine tableware. It was first manufactured in northern Italy at the end of the 1st century BC, however by AD 43 production had moved to Gaul (France). The production of samian ware ended around AD 260. The following interpretation is based on the photographs associated with this record. An examination of the fabric and surviving decorative elements may provide further information on the region of manufacture or production cent…
Created on: Wednesday 28th September 2016
Last updated: Thursday 13th April 2017
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-D100049
Object type: WATER CRAFT EQUIPMENT
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
Workflow stage: Published
Two circular wooden pulley sheaves. It is not clear whether these wooden pulley sheaves were a pair or from single sheave pulleys. Generally made from ash (Fraxinus), hickory (Carya) in the case of North America, or Lignum vitae. Lignum vitae, Latin for 'wood of life', is a trade wood, also called Guayacan or Guaiacum from the trees of the genus Guaiacum. The trees are indigenous to the Caribbean and the northern coast of South America and have been an important export crop to Europe since the beginning of the 16th century due to its extraordinary combination of strength, toughness, an…
Created on: Tuesday 14th March 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 26th September 2017
No spatial data available.

Record ID: MAS-D100051
Object type: DRINKING VESSEL
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Kent
Workflow stage: Published
One ivy leaf patterned teacup marked with the Davenport logo. This transfer printed refined ware (either pearlware or whiteware) cup dates to the 19th century. John Davenport acquired his own pottery in 1794, initially producing cream coloured blue-printed earthernware. Within 12 years the company's reputation and the quality of its porcelain was such that the future King George IV was ordering services from the company. John Davenport retired in 1830 and the company was continued to be run by his sons and their children until 1887 when the factory closed and the company was acquired b…
Created on: Sunday 21st May 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 26th September 2017
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-D100052
Object type: JUG
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
Workflow stage: Published
One badly damaged ceramic jug with marine encrustration. The vessel is probably stoneware, but possibly glazed redware as there appears to be the characteristic 'orange peel' texture of salt-glazed stoneware visible in the photo, with the 'reeding' that you get round the rims of stoneware vessels. If this is the case it is almost certainly German in origin. The rounded shape would place it somewhere in the second half of the 16th century or first half of the 17th century.
Created on: Tuesday 23rd May 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 3rd October 2017
No spatial data available.

Record ID: MAS-D100050
Object type: ARCHITECTURAL FRAGMENT
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
Workflow stage: Published
A rough cut square marble tile with pink colouration and marine growth visible. The tile measures approximately 0.3 m in length. It has not been possible to provide furter identification at this time.
Created on: Tuesday 14th March 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 26th September 2017
No spatial data available.

Record ID: MAS-D100038
Object type: BOTTLE
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Kent
Workflow stage: Published
Four glass bottles that are all square, mould-blown 'case bottles', with a typical tapering profile. The square shape enabled them to be packed more efficiently in a case than round bottles, and the tapering profile stopped them from sticking when removed from the case. These were used for gin (although undoubtedly also sometimes for other spirits or wine). Square case bottles were made in Europe from the middle of the 17th century, but the tapering form seems to have become more common in the 19th century. From the 1880s the bottles were machine made, and the rims properly finished - …
Created on: Sunday 21st May 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 26th September 2017
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-D100040
Object type: BOTTLE
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
Workflow stage: Published
One onion bottle dated to c.1700. Glass onion bottles were large hand-blown glass bottles, used aboard sailing ships to hold wine or brandy. For increased stability on rough seas, the bottles were fashioned with a wide-bottom shape to prevent toppling. Between c.1690 and c.1720 the outline of a wine bottle resembled an onion - a wide compressed globular body and a short neck (Robinson and Harding 2015). Most bottles before 1700 had a ring of glass just below the neck that gave anchorage to the string used to hold in variety of stoppers. The Dutch bottles usually had a longer neck than…
Created on: Tuesday 23rd May 2017
Last updated: Wednesday 4th October 2017
No spatial data available.

Record ID: MAS-D100036
Object type: SAUCER
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
Workflow stage: Published
Pewter bowl measuring 15 inches in diameter by 2 1/2 inches in depth. This find is a pewter dish or saucer (the term 'saucer' is used here to describe vessels used to contain sauces, in order to disguise or enhance the taste of food), probably dating somewhere between the 16th and 18th centuries - there are very similar examples, for instance, in 16th century contexts from Nonsuch Palace in Surrey (Rosemary Weinstein, 'Pewter vessels', in Biddle 2005). That doesn't mean that this vessel is a high-status object - saucers and dishes were among the most commonly made pewter items, and wo…
Created on: Tuesday 25th April 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 26th September 2017
No spatial data available.

Record ID: MAS-D100032
Object type: WATER CRAFT EQUIPMENT
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
Workflow stage: Published
A wooden belaying pin, approximately 0.4 m in length. Belaying pins are either solid metal or wooden objects used on sailing ships to secure the running rigging. They are still seen today on traditional square rigged ships and replica vessels. More modern sailing vessels have tended to replace them with fixed cleats. Their design has little changed, comprising a rounded handle and cylindrical shaft of varying length and thickness, dependant on the workload placed on it. The shaft would fit into holes in pinrails, which lined the inside of the bulwarks around the base of the ship's mas…
Created on: Tuesday 14th March 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 26th September 2017
No spatial data available.

Record ID: MAS-O100030
Object type: CANNON BALL
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
Workflow stage: Published
Spherical ball composed of sandstone or igneous rock such as granite. The shot measures 50 mm in circumference and would date to the post medieval period. Stone shot was carved by hand using chisels and picks, often being finished once on board a vessel. The use of stone was phased out around the 1630s when iron became a more favourable choice for shot.
Created on: Tuesday 7th March 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 15th August 2017
No spatial data available.

Record ID: MAS-100016
Object type: UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Essex
Workflow stage: Published
This assemblage of metal objects includes an iron handle possibly inscribed with letters; a lead sailmakers palm guard; a bronze scribe; a small gun powder measure; a cup; and what are possibly a musket ball and a rivet; along with several other metal objects of unknown function. All the items appear to be post medieval in date. It is thought that these finds are either being washed into the area from another location or are being exposed by erosion, as each visit to the location reveals more objects.
Created on: Monday 17th October 2016
Last updated: Tuesday 15th August 2017
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-100009
Object type: SHOT
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Essex
Workflow stage: Published
This is an assemblage of six round cast iron and stone projectiles of varying sizes. Due to the ubiquitous nature of their design, it is difficult to accurately date cannonballs with any certainty. This issue is compounded by the wide variation in designs and calibres of the cannons that fired them and the lifespan of the weapon, with obsolete designs often still in use on merchant ships long after they had fallen out of service with the various navies of Northern Europe, who also used captured weapons on their vessels. Cast iron cannonballs are thought to have appeared at some point d…
Created on: Wednesday 28th September 2016
Last updated: Thursday 13th April 2017
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-1F5444
Object type: BEAD
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Kent
Workflow stage: Published
Twenty-six long drawn beads with a single cylindrical central perforation extending along the length of the bead. Varying in size, the beads measure approximately 25 mm in length and 8 mm in diameter, and some signs of wear are visible. The beads all have an opaque white core, cased in opaque red, cased in opaque white and finally cased in translucent blue on the exterior. The inner layers form a star pattern. The diameter cross-section is roughly cylindrical in the centre, whilst at the upper and lower ends the cross-section changes to become faceted in an octagonal shape, allowing th…
Created on: Wednesday 3rd August 2016
Last updated: Friday 30th September 2016
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-O100053
Object type: BOTTLE
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Kent
Workflow stage: Published
One gin bottle measuring 11 inches high by 3 1/2 inches wide. This square, mould-blown 'case bottle', has the typical tapering profile. The square shape enabled the bottles to be packed more efficiently in a case than round bottles, and the tapering profile stops them from sticking when removed from the case. They were used for gin (although undoubtedly also sometimes for other spirits or wine). Square case bottles were made in Europe from the middle of the 17th century, but the tapering form seems to have become more common in the 19th century. From the 1880s the bottles were machine …
Created on: Monday 29th May 2017
Last updated: Monday 19th March 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-F100110
Object type: POST
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: East Sussex
Workflow stage: Published
Heavily eroded and abraded timber fragment with marine borer and growth present. As it is so worn, it is difficult to tell what type of wood it is and whether this fragment was originally completely shaped and worked, or just partially worked to achieve its function. The timber does not exhibit any evidence or staining from fastenings, however, there is one hole that could have been a fastening point at some stage. It is thought that this fragment may be a broken post or groyne timber that has come from a beach rather than material relating to a wreck. Groynes are wooden barriers bui…
Created on: Wednesday 23rd August 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 8th May 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-F100107
Object type: TRANSPORT
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: East Sussex
Workflow stage: Published
This ship's timber is 830 mm long, 110 x 120 mm in profile, with truncated 25 mm diameter treenails; and a 385 x 65 mm slot for the supporting metal work from which the visible corrosion products suggest that they were of iron construction. The images were forwarded to ship expert and author Richard Endsor. The timber appears to be the beam end from a small ship, with evidence of knees on both sides. The small piece of plank let into it crossways may be the remains of a waterway at the side making this face the upper side of the beam. The treenails probably secured the plank. The notc…
Created on: Wednesday 23rd August 2017
Last updated: Wednesday 23rd May 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-100004
Object type: CLAY PIPE (SMOKING)
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Kent
Workflow stage: Published
All three white pipes here are complete, and are of the short or 'cutty' form. Two carry relief moulded decoration featuring Masonic emblems (incorporating the crossed compass and square), while the third is in the form of a male head, wearing a thin-brimmed cap, possibly a military figure. Pipes with Masonic emblems were made from the mid-18th century in the UK, but remained popular into the early 20th century, while the male head falls into a group of more elaborate decorative pipes with bowls moulded in the form of human heads and animals, common in the late 19th and early 20th cent…
Created on: Thursday 28th July 2016
Last updated: Tuesday 29th January 2019
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-O100028
Object type: BOTTLE
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Isle of Wight
Workflow stage: Published
A bottle made from dark green/black glass, bearing a protruding cork. It has a slightly concave body, flaring moderately at the base, leading to gently rounded shoulders with clear definition where they intersect with the neck. The neck itself is broadly straight, tapering slightly where it meets the finish. The finish is of either a double oil or brandy type. The bottle is reminiscent of a spirit bottle of the squat cylinder style, though vessels of this style were used to contain a variety of products beyond beers, wines and spirits. Bottles of this type were manufactured from at lea…
Created on: Saturday 25th February 2017
Last updated: Friday 21st February 2020
Spatial data recorded.