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-D100035
Object type: JAR
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
Workflow stage: Published
Part of a large clay storage jar. Due to the size of the fragment and the degree of marine growth on this item it has been tentatively identified as an olive jar, probably Spanish in origin, and dating anywhere between the medieval to post-medieval period (13th/14th to 18th century), most likely from the latter end of this date range (16th - 18th century).
Created on: Friday 7th April 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 26th September 2017
No spatial data available.

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-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-100012
Object type: LANDING CRAFT INFANTRY
Broad period: MODERN
County: Suffolk
Workflow stage: Published
This hulk is situated on the River Deben, just outside of Melton (Suffolk) and is estimated to measure 11.5 m in length and 3 m in width. The structure is rectangular in shape with squared edges and straight sides. One end suggests the presence of a bulkhead and a hatch or doorway, while the other end is missing. Parts of possible rudder components are located close to the bulkhead, suggesting that this is the stern. Internal frames can be seen throughout the remaining structure; estimated measurements reveal a spacing of approximately 0.42 m. The hull is constructed of wood in a doubl…
Created on: Friday 30th September 2016
Last updated: Monday 10th October 2016
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-100007
Object type: SPOON
Broad period: MODERN
County: Devon
Workflow stage: Published
This spoon is made of a metal alloy, possibly copper alloy, and was probably originally plated. Its manufacture would have been cast. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) crest is stamped into the end of the spoon. The crest features the RAAF monogram with a laurel wreath surmounted by a crown. This crest is the same style as that used for cap badges and is modelled from a Royal Air Force (RAF) crest. The more widely adopted RAAF crest was commissioned and designed in 1937 and accepted in 1939. It is composed of the imperial crown mounted on a circle featuring the words 'Royal Austra…
Created on: Thursday 8th September 2016
Last updated: Wednesday 14th December 2016
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-100011
Object type: CLAY PIPE (SMOKING)
Broad period: NINETEENTH CENTURY
County: Cornwall
Workflow stage: Published
This is a very worn example of a 'cutty' (short) pipe (total length 115 mm) with a round-based spurless bowl imitating a briar pipe, and decorated with multiple 'thorns' - small pointed protrusions around the stem and bowl. This type of bowl was in use between c. 1850 and 1910 (Atkinson and Oswald 1969: type 30), and the thorn design was one of the many decorative types popular during this period (e.g. Ayto 1994:11; Hammond 2009: figure 7). Clay tobacco pipes were manufactured (using two-piece moulds) in huge quantities in many towns and cities around the UK and were also imported fro…
Created on: Wednesday 28th September 2016
Last updated: Wednesday 12th October 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-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-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-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-6105BA
Object type: FIREARM
Broad period: NINETEENTH CENTURY
County: Cornwall
Workflow stage: Published
This gun is a QF (quick firing) 6-pounder Hotchkiss, a light 2.25 inch (57 mm) naval and coastal defence gun from the late 19th century. The design appears to be pre-1890 as it does not have the recoil system that was introduced at that time. The original 1885 Mk I was a built-up gun with a vertical sliding-block breech. The name comes from the French manufacturing company, Hotchkiss, who were the major supplier of light QF guns in the world. This type of gun became a standard torpedo defence weapon; many navies bought this same type of gun (Friedman 2011).
Created on: Monday 25th July 2016
Last updated: Friday 26th August 2016
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-D100074
Object type: INK BOTTLE
Broad period: NINETEENTH CENTURY
County: Kent
Workflow stage: Published
A collection of four ink bottles; one large and three small. The larger stoneware ink bottle displays a pourer on the rim and is glazed with a feldspathic glaze. This type of ink bottle was introduced in the 1860s and were superseded by glass bottles by the first decade of the 20th century. Cylindrical stoneware ink bottles were made in England in large quantities throughout the Victorian era. The bottles varied widely in size and were not all brown. The larger or master bottles with a pouring lip brown bottles were commonly used for ink. The pouring spout would be used to distribute …
Created on: Monday 24th July 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 21st November 2017
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-D100082
Object type: BOTTLE
Broad period: NINETEENTH CENTURY
County: Kent
Workflow stage: Published
A collection of four stoneware ginger beer bottles covered with a feldpathic glaze and stamped with 'A Phillips Victoria VI'. These bottles relate to Alexander Phillips of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, whose business ran from 1858. In 1879, his son became a partner in the business after which time the bottles are stamped 'A Phillips & Son' (B.C. & Vancouver Island - Bottles, Antiques & Collectibles, accessed November 2017). These stoneware ginger beer bottles were produced in Britain by the Doulton Lambeth Company. 'VI' stood for the crown colony of Vancouver Island. …
Created on: Friday 11th August 2017
Last updated: Wednesday 6th December 2017
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-D100087
Object type: DOMED LID
Broad period: NINETEENTH CENTURY
County: Kent
Workflow stage: Published
One ceramic serving dish lid made of a refined whiteware with transfer-printed design in red.The term 'whiteware' is used in historical archaeology to denote refined ceramics with a whiter and denser body than pearlware that generally postdates c. 1830. Whiteware is a class of ceramic products that include porcelain and china. They are usually, but not necessarily white and consist typically of clays, feldspar, potter's flint, and whiting (calcium carbonate).
Created on: Friday 11th August 2017
Last updated: Wednesday 6th December 2017
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-D100084
Object type: BOTTLE
Broad period: NINETEENTH CENTURY
County: Kent
Workflow stage: Published
Three cylindrical glass bottles. The two larger bottles are full size wine bottles. One is of the 'Burgundy' type and is most likely Continental. The half-size wine bottle, originally thought to be a champagne bottle, also has a Continental style neck. The Continental style neck appears around the middle of the 19th century (Dumbrell 1983). All are of nineteenth or twentieth century type.
Created on: Friday 11th August 2017
Last updated: Wednesday 6th December 2017
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-D100085
Object type: CLAY PIPE (SMOKING)
Broad period: NINETEENTH CENTURY
County: Kent
Workflow stage: Published
A selection of seven clay pipes. Two of the pipes are of 'Irish' type (Atkinson and Oswald 1969, type 31, dated post-1840), with spurs and milled bowl rims, and the remaining five are of a spur-less form copying the briar pipe (ibid., type 30, dated c. 1850-1910). All of the clay pipes are 'cutty' (short) pipes. The spur-less examples are all stamped with the mark 'H B W Russell Co.'. This appears to be the mark of an agent or retailer rather than the pipe manufacturer (as is more usual). H. B. W. Russell may have a connection with Liverpool - pipes stamped 'HBW Russell of Liverpool' …
Created on: Friday 11th August 2017
Last updated: Thursday 7th December 2017
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-D100115
Object type: CARTRIDGE
Broad period: NINETEENTH CENTURY
County: Kent
Workflow stage: Published
Images of this find were sent to Trevor Parker of the Ordnance Society. He confirmed that these three shell cases belong to a six-pounder Hotchkiss gun. This particular type of gun was introduced in 1884 for use against torpedo boats. They were used during First World War on the Arethusa and early 'C' class cruisers and a few submarines as well as on Monitors M.15 through M.33. Originally French in origin, they were introduced to Britain in 1886 (Tucker 2013). Many were subsequently used as sub-calibre and saluting guns which meant that they were still available in 1939 (Naval Weapons,…
Created on: Friday 8th September 2017
Last updated: Thursday 5th October 2017
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.