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-F100109
Object type: BOAT
Broad period: MODERN
County: East Sussex
Workflow stage: Published
This find is an unidentified curved aluminium sheet that measures approximately 0.94 m by 0.24 m and has a thickness of 5 mm. The sheet displays one riveted hole and one area still exhibits faint traces of red paint. The sheet is covered in a layer of marine growth. Initially it was believed that this object could be associated with aviation remains, however, after consulting our historic aircraft specialist, it was confirmed that the material is too thick to belong to an aircraft. The colour red does not often appear, other than on external markings or Luftwaffe radio equipment, both…
Created on: Wednesday 23rd August 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 8th May 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-F100108
Object type: PORTHOLE
Broad period: MODERN
County: East Sussex
Workflow stage: Published
This object is the remains of a brass porthole ring measuring 250 mm across with a brass rim 28 mm wide. It is thought that this frame would have been on the outside of the hull of the vessel while an internal frame on the inside of the vessel would have contained the glass element and a hinged deadlight (a metal plate that was both a curtain and a reinforcement against heavy seas). Portholes have been used for centuries to allow light and ventilation to enter the lower, darker levels of vessels and in some early cases, as a means of seeing out of a submersible. Portholes are waterti…
Created on: Wednesday 23rd August 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 8th May 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-F100106
Object type: LADDER
Broad period: NINETEENTH CENTURY
County: East Sussex
Workflow stage: Published
These two timbers are two components of a companion ladder. The larger piece measures 1.14 m long by 0.15 m wide and based on the visible ridges to accommodate the stairs, would have been the left-hand side banister of the ladder. The smaller piece measures 0.56 m wide and is 20 mm thick. This piece is one of the stairs that would have fitted between both banisters and still slots in to one of the grooves on the remaining banister. The join is step and groove radiused rather than square cut. Companion ladders or a companion way is usually steep but has treads or stairs rather than run…
Created on: Wednesday 23rd August 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 8th May 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-F100104
Object type: SHELL CASES
Broad period: MODERN
County: East Sussex
Workflow stage: Published
The shell case measures 660 mm long and is 152 mm in diameter at the base, and 116 mm in diameter at the neck though this has been buckled and stretched. The shell case appears to have been either constructed without a base, or it has been removed at some point in the past. The diameter of the neck and its overall size point to it being a 4.5-inch or possibly a 4.7-inch shell case. Without the base with the details of type, manufacturer and date of manufacture, the history and origin of this case is not clear. It would have been part of a fixed round, i.e. the shell was attached to the…
Created on: Wednesday 23rd August 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 8th May 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-O100026
Object type: SHIPS TIMBER
Broad period: NINETEENTH CENTURY
County: North Yorkshire
Workflow stage: Published
Two fragments of waterlogged wood with two copper fasteners dating from the post-medieval period onwards. The wood may be the remains of two planks of wood used in the construction of a ship as the planks are secured with one copper fastening and a hole is visible where another fastening may have also been used. Copper rivets are the standard method of fastening the planks to each other in clinker constructed vessels, or in the planks to the ribs or frames (Traditional Maritime Skills website, accessed September 2017). Clinker is a method of constructing the hull of a boat by fixing w…
Created on: Saturday 28th January 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 22nd May 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-F100105
Object type: STRUCTURAL TIMBER
Broad period: NINETEENTH CENTURY
County: East Sussex
Workflow stage: Published
These two unidentified timbers measure 790 x 75 x 90 mm and 160 x 100 x 60 mm and were recovered from a boat's trawl nets whilst working out of Newhaven, East Sussex. The small piece shows evidence of a longer period of immersion in terms of abrasion and marine borer damage, though this may also be due to the relative hardness and variety of the two woods, or any treatment that might have been received to protect the timber. Neither timber appears to be of ship related origin, with the larger darker piece looking as if it might have been a post and rail fence board originally, rather t…
Created on: Wednesday 23rd August 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 22nd May 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-D100100
Object type: BOTTLE
Broad period: NINETEENTH CENTURY
County: Kent
Workflow stage: Published
A collection of five bottles comprising two full-size glass bottles, one squat cylindrical glass bottle, one small clear bottle, and one stoneware bottle. All the bottles are believed to be of nineteenth and twentieth century type, although it is difficult to date all but the stoneware bottle. The two full-size glass bottles are thought to be either wine or beer bottles. If the bottles have kicked bases, it would indicate a wine bottle, while a flat base would indicate a beer bottle. The squat cylindrical glass bottle was thought to be a port bottle, however if the base is flat, thi…
Created on: Friday 11th August 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 22nd May 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-D100101
Object type: BOTTLE
Broad period: NINETEENTH CENTURY
County: Kent
Workflow stage: Published
Two case gin bottles. Some of the earliest liquor bottles were square in cross section and generally designed to contain gin though undoubtedly contained various types of liquor and possibly wine. Commonly called 'case gin' or 'taper gin' bottles since they would pack more efficiently in a case (6 to 24 bottles) than round bottles. Case gin bottles are square with a distinct taper inwards from the shoulder to the base. The neck is very short to almost non-existent with the finishes varying from a laid-on ring, flared, mineral finish, oil, and even a blob. This shape and style of bottl…
Created on: Friday 11th August 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 22nd 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-F100111
Object type: AIRCRAFT COMPONENT
Broad period: MODERN
County: East Sussex
Workflow stage: Published
Aluminium aircraft section, heavily corroded and damaged. No identifying marks or plates visible, though two cross member plate remnants present. 870 x 45mm. The lack of identifying marks means that the type and origin of the aircraft cannot be definitively identified from this recovered section. Initially thought to be part of a piston engine support frame from something like a Spitfire fighter, a Dakota transport aircraft, or perhaps one of the multi-engined bombers,this theory was discarded as these are generally circular in section. The double row of rivet holes down one side (pre…
Created on: Wednesday 23rd August 2017
Last updated: Wednesday 23rd May 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-F100103
Object type: BOTTLE
Broad period: MODERN
County: East Sussex
Workflow stage: Published
This flat-based Hamilton, or 'torpedo' bottle stands 240 mm high, with a 64-mm wide base and is approximately 90 mm wide at the waist. It has a 'bottle logo' embossed on its base. There are possibly other text/numerals that have since worn away. The bottle shows moulding scars on the base and sides. It has a crown top finish. The egg-shaped bottle was first patented by William Francis Hamilton in 1814, the idea being that the bottle had to be stored on its side to keep the cork wet and ensuring a good seal on the reusable bottle. In around 1870, the flat based egg or Hamilton bottle w…
Created on: Wednesday 23rd August 2017
Last updated: Wednesday 23rd May 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-O100099
Object type: HANDAXE
Broad period: PALAEOLITHIC
County: Hampshire
Workflow stage: Published
Heavily sea-rolled and worn worked flint tool, covered in chalk patination (see third image). The flint measures 80 mm long, 60 mm wide and 30 mm thick, and unfortunately about 20% of the working end has recently broken off. Due to wear and damage on this hand-worked tool it has been difficult to confidently identify. Bryan Popple of Bournemouth Natural Science Society and Museum believes it could possibly be Homo neanderthalensis dating to around 200,000 years bp (before present). The smaller size indicates typical Neanderthal workings in comparison to the larger and older Homo heidel…
Created on: Saturday 5th August 2017
Last updated: Wednesday 23rd May 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-O100062
Object type: HANDAXE
Broad period: PALAEOLITHIC
County: Hampshire
Workflow stage: Published
Lower Palaeolithic ovate handaxe dating to around 250,000 years bp (before present). Patina evident on its surface indicates that the tool has been deposited in chalk, therefore it probably originated offshore and was washed onshore (rather than eroded from terrestrial river terraces). This identification was made by Bryan Popple of Bournemouth Natural Science Society and Museum. Matt Leivers, an in-house specialist at Wessex Archaeology believes it is a very rolled and abraded Lower Palaeolithic handaxe that has clearly been around on the seabed for a considerable period of time.
Created on: Friday 30th June 2017
Last updated: Wednesday 23rd May 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-D100029
Object type: AMPULLA
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
County: County Durham
Workflow stage: Published
An incomplete, flask shaped ampulla made of lead dating to the late Medieval period, around AD 1350 to 1500. These objects are believed to have been used to transport holy liquid from pilgrim sites. The ampulla, found in the River Wear, has a rounded body that extends upwards into the neck and diverges outwards towards the top. One handle on the side of the neck is intact and the remains of a second handle is visible on the other side of the neck. The obverse side of the ampulla is rounded and there are no visible decorations remaining. A relief decoration of a small equal-armed cross …
Created on: Tuesday 28th February 2017
Last updated: Wednesday 23rd May 2018
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-100018
Object type: COSTREL
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
Workflow stage: Published
A salt-glazed stoneware barrel costrel, almost certainly German and probably dating to the 17th century. Recovered in 1966 during a dive at a depth of approximately 50-60 ft, and found in association with two lots of cannon, cannonballs and lead sheeting.
Created on: Friday 21st October 2016
Last updated: Wednesday 23rd May 2018
No spatial data available.

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-D100078
Object type: EGG CUP
Broad period: NINETEENTH CENTURY
County: Kent
Workflow stage: Published
One egg cup made of a refined whiteware.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). It is not until the Victorian era that eggcups were mass marketed and regularly offered with dinnerware services. Companies, like Wedgwood and Haviland, produced eggcups and decorate…
Created on: Monday 24th July 2017
Last updated: Tuesday 29th January 2019
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: MAS-D100221
Object type: VALVE
Broad period: MODERN
County: Kent
Workflow stage: Published
One brass stopper and one brass valve. The valve has spherical central body, with three different piped connections conjoining at right angles, each indentical in style; circular and 30 mm long, with a 180 mm approximate diameter. It is wheel-operated, with the wheel shaft thinner than the piped connections at 25 mm, before expanding to a larger shaft with diameter of 65 mm. The condition of the valve is heavily corroded and encrusted with metal growths. The stopper is in a similar condition, although one nut and bolt at its centre appears to be in fair condition.
Created on: Friday 21st September 2018
Last updated: Wednesday 19th February 2020
Spatial data recorded.