2026-04-07T12:03:32+01:0031https://marinefinds.org.uk/datalabs/terminology/materials/format/jsonhttps://marinefinds.org.uk/datalabs/terminology/materials/format/xmlhttps://marinefinds.org.uk/datalabs/terminology/materials2Stone11794<p>Use for all stones other than flint, gemstones, jet or shale.</p>12016-08-22 13:56:512003-04-01 12:00:0012016-08-22 14:57:0523Organic<p>Organic finds excluding timber</p>12016-08-22 13:57:432003-04-01 12:00:0012016-08-22 14:57:5724Mineral<p>Mineral</p>12016-08-22 13:58:062003-04-01 12:00:0012016-08-22 14:58:2125Ceramic10539<p>Use this term for all pottery, brick, tile and pipeclay, and bone-ash crucibles. More precise terms, such as the ware type, can be used in the Description field.</p>12016-08-22 13:58:172003-04-01 12:00:0012016-08-22 14:58:3226Precious metal<p>Precious metal</p>112016-08-22 13:58:362003-04-01 12:00:0012016-08-22 14:58:5127Copper alloy10627<p>This term should be used for any alloy which appears to include copper. If you know that the item is a particular alloy (e.g. bronze, brass, gunmetal, speculum) then you can put this in the Description field. Most of the time you will be able to identify the alloy only from the appearance, weight and type of object (e.g. leaded bronze for medieval and post-med cooking vessels, or brass for Byzantine buckets, or bronze for Bronze Age objects, bell-metal for bells, speculum for Roman mirrors, etc etc) and so the identification will not be certain. Therefore if you do certainly know the type of alloy because you have had a compositional analysis, then it is very important to say this. Use copper alloy for potin coins.</p>112016-08-22 14:30:052003-04-01 12:00:0012016-08-22 15:30:2028Iron11019<p>This should be used for iron and steel. You can specify wrought iron or cast iron, or steel, in the Description field. Corroded wrought iron can often be recognised by its laminated or fibrous appearance, caused by the stringers of slag that follow the forging lines. Cast iron can be recognised by the use of thin cross-sections and complex cast shapes. It is also often better preserved than wrought iron. Cast iron only appeared in Britain in the late 15th century and was for some time used only for a restricted range of objects (guns, gun shot, fire backs).</p>112016-08-22 14:30:502003-04-01 12:00:0012016-08-22 15:31:0529Lead11094<p>This material should be used if you are fairly certain that the object is fairly pure lead. It will be heavy. Be careful in handling lead and wash your hands well before touching food. But don't worry too much - blood tests on three long-serving FLOs have shown their lead levels to be no different from normal.</p>112016-08-22 14:31:132003-04-01 12:00:0012016-08-22 15:31:27210Flint10837<p>Use for all flint items!</p>212016-08-22 14:31:222003-04-01 12:00:0012016-08-22 15:31:36214Wood11988<p>Use for wooden items</p>312016-08-22 14:32:102003-04-01 12:00:0012016-08-22 15:32:25215Animal skeletal material10232<p>Use for an object made from any part of an animal's skeleton - <span>ivory, bone, antler, horn, tooth or shell. Because this is a large catch-all category, it is essential to enter more information in the Description field. It can be difficult to tell cut-up pearls and shells apart - if in doubt, it is probably better to use 'Animal skeletal material' than 'Gem'.</span></p>312016-08-22 14:32:392003-04-01 12:00:0012016-08-22 15:32:54216Leather11101<p>Use for items either made from leather, or with a surviving element of leather.</p>312016-08-22 14:32:482003-04-01 12:00:0012016-08-22 15:33:03217Textile<p>Use for an item either made of textile or with surviving textile.</p>312016-08-22 14:32:562003-04-01 12:00:0012016-08-22 15:33:10218Glass10879<p>Use for all translucent and opaque glasses, including items made from glass paste (glass powder with adhesive which can be modelled like clay).</p>412016-08-22 14:34:122003-04-01 12:00:0012016-08-22 15:34:27219Earthenware<p>Use 'ceramic' for all types of pottery. <span>More precise terms, such as the ware type, can be used in the Description field.</span></p>3512016-08-22 14:34:442003-04-01 12:00:0012016-08-22 15:34:59220Stoneware<p>Use 'ceramic' for all types of pottery. <span>More precise terms, such as the ware type, can be used in the Description field.</span></p>3512016-08-22 14:34:592003-04-01 12:00:0012016-08-22 15:35:14222Silver11728<p>This material should be used when you suspect that the metal is primarily silver. If you have a compositional analysis, add this in the Description field.</p>612013-07-18 08:59:552003-04-01 12:00:0012010-07-09 14:08:101923Gold10892<p>Use for items where the colour is yellow and lustrous and the object feels heavy. Pale gold may contain a high proportion of silver; you can use the words ‘pale gold’ in the Description field, or occasionally you might want to use the word ‘electrum’ for the same thing, although this term is now quite unfashionable.</p>612013-07-17 14:46:592003-04-01 12:00:0012010-07-09 14:08:551924Steel11786<p>Use 'iron' for all irons and steels.</p>812016-08-26 09:31:522003-04-01 12:00:0012016-08-26 10:32:11225Lead Alloy11095<p>This material should be used if the object looks leady, but is rather too light. Many lead alloys are alloyed with tin, but in most cases (because lead is cheap!) the lead content will be higher than the tin. The experience of the Museum of London is that it is pretty much impossible to tell when a lead/tin alloy is mostly lead, or mostly tin, apart from the weight. There seems also to be little significance in which alloy is chosen. Ancient 'pewter' is also a lead/tin alloy; the word 'pewter' can be used in the Description field.</p>912013-07-18 08:39:562003-04-01 12:00:0012010-07-09 14:52:355627White metal11967<p>Use this term where the metal is grey or silvery in colour, but where you strongly suspect that the item is not silver. This term will be most often used for an additional material (a coating), or a nasty modern alloy.</p> <p>For Britannia metal, use 'tin alloy'.</p> <p>Silver alloyed with copper can look very like copper-alloy with a white-metal coating, so consider this possibility; an early Treasure Act item that appeared to be entirely copper-alloy with a greyish coating was analysed and found to be 70% silver.</p>912013-07-18 09:08:112003-04-01 12:00:0012010-07-09 14:10:231928Jet or Shale11042<p><span>Use for jet or shale items.Without an analysis it is generally impossible to distinguish jet from shale, but if you do know which it is, put this in the Description field.</span></p>1312013-07-18 09:11:352003-04-01 12:00:0012010-07-09 14:53:005630Gem110194<p><span>Use for all precious or semi-precious gemstones, and organic gems such as coral, pearl and amber. Examples of gems include amethyst, garnet, rock crystal, carnelian and so on (but jet or shale items have their own term and shell should be entered as 'animal skeletal material'). Because this is a large catch-all category, it is essential to enter more information in the Description field.</span></p>412016-08-22 14:35:482003-04-01 12:00:0012016-08-22 15:36:03231Base Silver11729<p>Only use this material for Iron Age or third-century Roman coins, where you don't feel happy with either'silver' or 'copper alloy'.</p>2212013-07-18 09:09:312003-04-01 12:00:0012010-07-09 14:13:341933Tin or tin alloy11849<p>In theory, use for tin, or for alloys where you suspect that the major ingredient is tin. In practice, tin as a primary material is pretty much impossible to tell from lead, and as a coating is not possible to tell from silver (use ‘white metal’ in these circumstances). Relatively pure tin with a little hardening alloy added (e.g. post-medieval pewter or Britannia metal) tends to crystallise in the soil and form delaminating layers or cuboidal blocks, so you can safely use ‘tin or tin alloy’ for these, with the words ‘pewter’ or ‘Britannia metal’ in the Description field if desired. Use ‘tin or tin alloy’ for certain 17th-century coins which are known to be made from tin, although these will generally be too late to be worth recording.</p>112013-07-18 09:07:402003-04-01 12:00:0012010-07-09 14:14:481941Enamel<p>Use for glass which has been fused to a metal backing.</p>412013-07-19 08:02:202003-04-01 12:00:0012010-07-09 14:53:315646Mortar or plaster11257<p>Any type of object made from mortar or plaster (mostly used in building contexts). <span>Plasters can be made from lime or gypsum and are quite pure, or mixed with hair.  Mortars can again be lime-based or gypsum-based but have sand or other hard inclusions.</span></p>212013-07-18 09:11:012003-04-01 12:00:0012010-07-09 14:54:095650Yellow metal<p>Use this term where the metal is golden in colour, but where you strongly suspect that the item is not gold. Yellow metal will generally be used for modern items.</p>12013-07-19 08:02:202003-04-01 12:00:0012010-07-09 14:24:071951Other<p>Only use when the object is definitely none of the above, e.g. plastic, platinum, zinc, aluminium.Also use ‘other’ for the white material (perhaps decayed shell or calcium carbonate) which can be found in early Anglo-Saxon jewellery, and for any other material which is not covered above, including metal ores such as galena, or completely unidentifiable materials.Because this is a large catch-all category, it is essential to enter more information in the Description field.</p>12013-07-19 08:02:202010-07-09 14:29:58192010-07-09 14:54:315652Faience<p>Use for objects which have (or had) a turquoise-blue glaze over a core which looks like a ceramic, but which is in fact closer in composition to a glass.Most will be Roman beads.Faience was made from soda, lime and quartz or steatite.</p>12013-07-19 08:02:202010-07-09 14:30:39192010-07-09 14:54:435653Copper10626<p>Only use if you are sure that an object is pretty much pure copper.Most ‘copper’ objects will be Bronze Age.</p>12013-07-18 09:06:302010-07-09 14:31:11192010-07-09 14:54:5456