It’s been a busy start to March at the Archaeological Archive. Or rather, we’ve been busy taking the archive collections out of the stores and back to where they were first discovered.

Our Unearthing Bromley project is revisiting the archaeology that was dug up in Keston and bringing it back to its borough. We started our roadshow with a pop-up stand at The Glades shopping centre and had a fantastic weekend chatting to shoppers.

“I had no idea there was this much stuff in Bromley”

The excavations revealed a history going back to the early Iron Age running right through to the Saxons with three centuries of Roman occupation in between. Whilst the dig itself uncovered the history of the site, our events at the Glades uncovered the connections to the past that people still have today

“I remember this. I remember when the first dig was going on in the 60s. I took my girlfriend down there to see what was going on!”

“I live right near Jackass Lane (where the excavations took place). And you’re telling me that all these things are Roman? Really? That’s fantastic.”

Our team of Archaeological Ambassadors chatted to over 2000 people, sharing the history of the area and encouraging shoppers to touch the past.

“To get my hands on something almost 2000 years old… Wow…”

However, this was more than just your standard piece of outreach. Our guys were actively encouraging people to join in with the kind of collections care work that usually only takes place behind the scenes, back at the archive. Shoppers suddenly became absorbed in repacking pieces of Roman pottery. It’s a simple process transferring a sherd of pottery from an old to a new bag and writing out a museum label.  Yet, this simple method is an important and effective way of preserving the past.

“There you go. We’ve become part of the Museum of London” (Mum to daughter after packing bags of pottery)

This type of event is known as Public Archaeology and it pretty much does what it says; sharing archaeology with members of the public, getting people involved with their local heritage. Some visitors knew lots about the area already, some none. Our oldest visitor remembered the site being dug up, our youngest couldn’t even speak yet.

Ultimately though, it’s about giving people some enjoyment out of the past. And judging by one girl’s response below, we like to think we nailed this. Over to Grace:

“On 8\3\13 my mum and I stayed at the Museum of London stand in the Glades, Bromley for 2 hours as we were so fascinated by the wonderful artefacts that had been found in Keston. I was lucky enough to hold and pack real Roman pottery! My favourite piece was part of a handle which was quite rough and lumpy because it had been made with crushed oyster shells! I cannot wait to go to the Archives of the Museum of London and see more pieces of history”

#UnearthingBromley continues on Wednesdays at the Bromley Museum and Fridays at Tesco Extra, Orpington, throughout March, culminating with a celebration of local history at the Bromley Museum on Saturday 6 April : www.museumoflondon.org.uk/bromley

Right now, as this blog is being written, the skull of a roman dog is sitting in a display case at the Glades Shopping Centre in Bromley. Yet, this is no ordinary dog. It’s one whose history and circumstances of death are surrounded in mystery.

In 1984 as archaeologists uncovered remains of  a Roman villa in Keston, they came across a large circular feature; larger than your average pit, as they removed layers of soil, extraordinary discoveries began to be revealed. Having already dug a depth of around two metres, the archaeologists suddenly found the shaft’s first animal bones; sheep, dog, ox and piglet. The bones weren’t your usual food waste, but instead were almost complete skeletons, albeit jumbled up. Beneath these, the actual first complete skeleton was found; that of a pig.

The archaeologists dug further. More bones appeared. Dog, dog, sheep, another dog, more pigs, dog, dog, dog. All complete skeletons. All seemingly placed in position, rather than being thrown in or naturally dying.

The archaeologists continued. More dog bones surfaced. What was this pit? It size and scale like no other on this four acre site. This shaft almost four metres in diameter and now reaching a depth of around four and a half metres. How deep would it go? What could they possibly find next?

Horse.

And not just the one. Two complete horses, deliberately laid around the edge of the shaft along with the complete skeleton of an ox. Down further still and more skeletons; dogs, oxen, sheep, pigs. When they finally reached the bottom, in the centre of the pit surrounded by the skeletal remains was a single, broken, iron spearhead.

So what was going on?

Well, in times of puzzlement like this, the archaeologist tends to reach for their safety word and cry ‘ritual!’ Truth be told, archaeology sometimes can’t provide us with a definitive answer. However, there are some interesting points to note which, with a little bit of logical imagination, perhaps help us understand the practices of these Keston inhabitants.

First, these animals were almost certainly placed in position, rather than falling into the shaft. Second, the people here were agricultural farmers, meaning that they were both relying on a good crop for survival and would have had access to several kinds of animals. Third, Romans are known to make sacrifices to their gods.

Sacrificing sheep and oxen were part of the ritual practice in the worship of the goddess Magna Mater –  the Earth Mother. In Autumn, to mark the end of agricultural and military campaigning seasons, horses were sacrificed to the God Mars. Finally, in April, there was the Robigalia, where dog sacrifices were carried out to protect fields of grain from disease.

Although no solid evidence that these animals were sacrificed to these deities for these purposes, I find it curious that these connections can be made. Perhaps we’ll never know for certain why these animals died, but almost 2000 years later, their story lives on.

Certain remains will be on display at the Bromley Museum on Saturday 6 April as part of the Unearthing Bromley project.

The Roman Forum. The centre of public life. The nucleus of commercial affairs. Whether you lived in ancient Rome, ancient Lugdunum (modern Lyon to you and me) or our very own Londinium, the Forum was the place to meet your mates, find out about all the latest trends, fashions and social news and of course, shop.

So what would be today’s equivalent of a Forum? I’d like to put forward, the Shopping Mall.

Like the Roman Forum it has shops and market stalls, it has places to meet your friends, it has places to find out the latest trends/fashion and (at least in the commercial sense) news. And soon one shopping centre will also have Roman archaeology.

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What better place to take artefacts from Keston Roman villa than to Bromley’s Glades Shopping Centre.

What did residents in Bromley eat 2000 years ago? Why did a dish made in France end up in Roman Bromley? And why were dead dogs important?

You can find the answers to these questions and more from Sat 2nd March at The Glades, in the heart of Bromley’s town centre.

But why stop there? This is Public Archaeology and we want you to get up close and take a unique look at Bromley’s history; to touch the pots that were made and used in the area two millennia ago; to sniff them should you wish (we draw a line at tasting). These artefacts are London’s history, London’s heritage and whilst the Museum of London looks after them, they are yours to enjoy.

So come see them – Friday 8th, Saturday 9th & Sunday 10th March at Bromley’s ‘Modern Forum’. Meet our archaeology ambassadors and ask them how you can get involved in preserving Bromley’s ancient past.

The link between Bromley & Ancient Rome

In 43AD the Roman army crossed the Channel and began their conquest of Britain. Within a decade the area around the Thames had transformed into a city which would grow, be attacked, be fortified, be burnt, be rebuilt, expand and evolve. However, this isn’t the story I’m here to tell (that’s what we have the Roman Gallery for). This blog is interested in the lives beyond the city.

The outer boroughs of London have some amazing archaeological remains that shed light on what was going on in Roman Britain whilst London was developing. Roads led out in all directions such as the Westward one we’re hoping to find this summer in Hounslow (want to get involved? Find out more here: Excavate Syon). As you get further away from the city, you start to come across impressive temples (like the one in Greenwich) pottery production centres (such as Haringey’s Highgate pottery) and in the South-East, villa complexes. Our previous volunteer projects have looked at the finds from the roman villa at Beddington in Sutton but our current focus is a bit further East, exploring the London borough of Bromley.

Bromley is London’s largest borough. In 1967 excavations began at a site in Keston at an area know as Lower Warbank, where archaeologists from the Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit discovered the remains of a Romano-British farmstead. It was one of the largest excavations to take place in the South East, and involved over 500 volunteers.

Their findings were incredible: Iron Age settlers had been living in the area since around 600BC and gradually evolved the site into a small farmstead. As Londinium became an established city, the site embraced roman influences and slowly transformed into a villa complex with three large wooden buildings surrounding a rectangular courtyard, later to be replaced by a masonry building of about 10 rooms. The estate seems to have lasted until about AD 400, with farming and industry providing grain and pottery that was traded with Londinium and the wider empire. Following the Romans, Saxon settlers set up home, the last to occupy the site up until around AD 550.

There were some pretty special artefacts discovered such as ceramic wheels used to decorate pottery, jewellery that would have adorned those that lived here and complete animal skeletons seemingly buried as part of a religious custom. All these objects and more are stored at the Museum of London’s Archaeological Archive, however, since they were found over 40 years ago our methods of storage have advanced and these objects are in need of some attention. So that’s just what we’re going to do and we’re doing it in two ways.

First, we’re aiming to get your attention fixed on these objects. Throughout March, we’re taking  2000 year old pottery back to Bromley and will be sharing these items with today’s residents. You can get up close and touch the clay that was shaped into a roman cooking pot. You can run your fingers over 2000 year old fingerprints left behind on a special mixing bowl. If you really want to you can sniff the objects too (lots of people like doing this – I’m not sure why.)

Second, you can help us out and join our team of volunteers as they show you how together we can transform the way these objects are stored and make sure they’re preserved for years to come.

Come along and find out more at the Glades Shopping Centre from Friday 8th – Sunday 10th March; Tesco Extra, Orpington on Friday 15th & Friday 22nd March; and every Wednesday at the Bromley Museum, 6th, 13th, 20th & 27th March.

Today marks the last day of 2012 and as such the end of our Archaeological Archive’s 10^th anniversary. As a final celebration of the LAARC’s previous decade of inspiring a passion for archaeology, I’m presenting the last object in our blog series: ‘A History of London in 10 Archaeological Objects’.

Over the last 12 months I have been unravelling stories around a selection of archaeological artefacts that occupy our Archaeological Archive’s some 10 kilometres of shelving. Staying true to my word these have not been the “shiniest” nor have they been “well known” but they have allowed us to explore the history of the city in novel ways.

My final object comes from an archaeological excavation close to the home of the Archive at Mortimer Wheeler House – the Shoreditch Park Community excavation of 2005 (NNR05). Sponsored by the Big Lottery fund, this excavation involved a range of archaeologists, including those from the Archive, in a dig that was later televised as a Time Team special episode: Buried by the Blitz.

The impetus for the excavation was the anniversary of the end of the Second World War.  The project sought to explore evidence of bomb damage from the blitz and later from V1 and V2 rockets to the 1830s houses, involving the local community directly in this archaeological exploration.

Alongside evidence of bomb damage to the buildings through study of their surviving foundations, an interesting material assemblage was discovered, especially relating to the C20^th.  I could have selected an object pertinent to wartime such as a military cap badge, or perhaps something more evocative of the residents of the area such as a toy aeroplane. However, instead I’ve chosen something far more prosaic and that which you may even question as being ‘archaeological’.

Object 10

Modern (C20th) Plastic BC Light Fitting 

This light fitting is a small piece of evidence for the fabric of the many standing structures which were finally demolished, to make way for the area now known as Shoreditch Park, in the 1980s.

This artefact is made of composite materials, but predominantly plastic. Ironically it is this material that makes our 80 year old light fitting harder to conserve, and indeed preserve, than all the other objects in my top ten including our 40,000 year old Palaeolithic flint blade. This is all due to the inability of being able to stabilise the object which is most probably Bakelite, an early form of plastic and one of the first to be entirely synthetic. When I opened the box of plastic objects from the Shoreditch Park archive a distinct smell arose – a clear sign of chemical change, and one that is incredibly difficult to prevent.

Our light fitting is still worthy of being labelled an artefact. It was dug up under controlled conditions that accord to modern scientific archaeological practice and, despite its modernity, like all other artefacts it provides insight into the historical past, although this may at first be unclear.

Changing British Standards mean the wiring attached to our fitting will be out of date, as new colour coding systems have come into effect. Likewise the mechanism itself, although common, may also soon become redundant as new legislation for energy-saving light blubs are further developed, with a corresponding design change. Like all good artefacts we could even develop a typology (categorisation by its ‘type’) based on its morphology (the way it looks) for our light fitting.

Our tenth object is an historical electrical relic but more importantly it is part of a contemporary archaeological context. Although it may appear inconsequential on its own, when considered as part of an assemblage it adds to our interpretation of the Shoreditch site.

Although this blog may be the culmination of an archaeological ‘top ten’, it certainly isn’t the end of archaeology in London, as the city is forever being redeveloped. As such we may have to expand to a ‘top eleven’ in the near future or indeed rewrite the entire series as ‘new’ archaeology is unearthed and questions what we take for granted as ‘history’…

You may be overwhelmed with archaeological objects popping up on our blog at the moment as the LAARC has been running its much loved ‘Object-of-the-month’ competition. To contribute to this artefact overload, I’m now presenting our ninth object in the LAARC’s ‘A History of London in 10 Archaeological Objects’ blog series.

Last time it was a burnt brick that I used to define the Stuart period and its major event, the Great Fire of 1666. We’ve now moved on a few hundred years to the Victorian period (or have we?) and instead or dealing with the iconic I now want to focus on the banal.

As we’ve been slowly approaching the present, I keep making a point of questioning the relevance of archaeology considering how our historical documents become more and more prolific and varied. ‘Historical archaeology’ is one method that engages exactly with this concept head-on, aiming to contextualise and reassess our historical conceptions with oodles of evidence. A great example of this approach is the ‘Living in Victorian London’ collaborative project between MOLA and Queen Mary University of London. In order to better understand everyday life in Victorian London, researchers combined a study of archaeological evidence from households across London with relevant documentary historical records.  This provided new insight into the economic, social and cultural history of Dickensian London.

In this blog series I’ve tried to steer clear of those objects that would perhaps be obvious in compiling London’s historical ‘top ten’.  However, for our ninth object I’ve opted for something quite unusual, to emphasise the importance of archaeology in an historically saturated period. I’ve also tried to touch upon a major theme of the Victorian period – the concept of ‘childhood’.

Object 9 

Victorian (C19th) Georgian (C18th) Wooden Dolls

These two wooden dolls were found during excavation in 1993 at Limehouse, Tower Hamlets (LHC93) and are unique to London’s archaeological record. They formed part of a Victorian assemblage of artefacts and were later studied as part of the ‘Living in Victorian London’ project. Our dolls are made of alder wood and have survived remarkably well, no doubt due to being sealed in a cesspit (aka a Victorian privy). 

Although the collection of finds – the assemblage – from the cesspit were of Victorian date these toys were indentified as ‘Queen Anne’ dolls by finds specialists, immediately dating them to the early C18^th (as opposed to the C19^th). Originally the dolls would have been dressed in elaborate costume but this has long since decayed. The only especial detail that survives are the dolls’ oval pewter eyes. 

Like the ‘Living in Victorian London’ project, I also took a collaborative approach in trying to explore the history of these dolls further. My first stop was the Museum of London’s collections, which revealed one entry (from almost 700) for a doll with a particularly interesting physical description: “Two mortise grooves at base and a flat back indicate that the doll was attached to something at these two points”.

Our Senior Curator of Fashion & Decorative Arts (and a well-known blogger to these pages) not only located this doll in our Costume store for me, but also discovered another doll which puts our privy-worn archeological examples into much better context: 

Suddenly the somewhat enigmatic mortises were revealed as the hinges for legs!

It had been suggested by archaeologists that these dolls might have been made for adults rather than children, which puts an interesting spin on the concept of Victorian childhood. The ‘material culture’ interpreted from this site was both diverse and rich, which is at odds with the census and local rate books. These suggest that households in the Limehouse area at the time were typical of the East End’s poorer districts. Although obvious questions arise over ‘who owned these objects’ and ‘why did they throw them away’, in the case of our dolls we may also question ‘why were they kept for so long’?

Once again, ambiguous archaeology always raises more questions that it can answer, but these dolls hopefully emphasise the potential that ‘modern’ archaeology has for questioning what our historical documents may purport as fact. They also draw attention to the curation of objects within a lifetime and the importance of archaeological context in providing robust dating, as our dolls are archaeological red-herrings in this respect.

LAARC VIP11 – The Conclusion

It’s been a busy few months. 18 new volunteers joined us with various backgrounds, life experiences and indeed archaeological knowledge. We threw them altogether, united them via collections care work and 10 weeks later the London Archaeological Archive & Research Centre has vastly improved archives, nicely packed and accessible material, lots of extra shelf space due to the effective reboxing and best of all, a new team of friends whose passion for the history of the London is stronger than ever.

Job Done.

Although of course, our job is never done. The archive is big – officially the largest archaeological archive in the world – so there will always be more collections work that needs doing, more space that needs creating, more artefacts that will be rediscovered and more enjoyment to be had sharing our work with as many people that are interested.

Our plans for 2013 are to continue the work modeled by this year’s fabulous University of the 3rd Age. The 7 strong team, having learnt the necessary skills in their weeks based at the archive, went on to share their knowledge and experience with visitors to the Museum of London. The response was brilliant, with many visitors learning themselves how to pack and preserve archaeology as well as discover new information about the artefacts they were able to hold in their hands.

We want to take this model, combining archaeology, public participation &  learning experiences and start to pop up in various locations across Greater London, to share London’s heritage.  Because London is great, its people are great and its history is great. Who knows what we’ll discover and learn from each other. Exciting times.

Whatever happens you can bet we’ll come across amazing objects, like the four finalists in the Object of VIP11 competition:

There was a record amount of votes and a huge thanks to everyone who participated. And your winner was…

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THE SAXON COMB FROM PUDDING LANE!!!

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to making our 10th anniversary year fantastic. And it’s not over yet. My colleague Glynn still has a couple of posts left in his excellent History of London in 10 Archaeological Objects. Share with the world people, it’s well worth a read.

Object of VIP11 – The Grand Final

All this week, the 16 most interesting artefacts that we’ve come across during our current Volunteer Inclusion Programme have been competing for your votes. We’ve had objects spanning London’s history from Bronze Age hammerheads to Victorian plaster mouldings. The cream of the crop now get to battle it out, in what’s looking to be a very Grand Final indeed:

Monday’s winner was the Decorative Plaster from Alderman’s House, EC2. Audited by Friday volunteer James during week 6, this moulding of a horse’s head forms part of an assemblage of decorative plaster found in a post-medieval rubbish pit. Although quite the find, there is little mention of the objects in the site’s archive records. One sentence describes the plaster as “not nearly so interesting as originally thought”! We didn’t think this fair and clearly you didn’t think so too.

Tuesday’s winner was the Clay Tobacco Pipe from Brentford High Street, TW8. Repacked by Tuesday volunteer Alice during week 5, this early 20^th Century pipe depicts ‘mon petit quinquin’ or ‘little child’, the protagonist of a popular lullaby written in Picard language. The small child is pulling quite a strained face, perhaps because he is having difficulty atop his potty? An 18^th Century pipe kiln was discovered on the site along with hundreds of contemporary pipes. However, this one is unique amongst the assemblage as it is both an import (a few other Dutch pipes were also unearthed) and clearly much later in date, as is obvious from its style. A separate stem would have been inserted into the pipe bowl and as such this pipe would not have been as disposable as its earlier counterparts. How and why it ended up in the early stratigraphy of this site remains a mystery.

Wednesday’s winner was the Roman Slide Key that was audited by Tuesday volunteer Aris during week 3.  It was discovered in 1981 at Pudding Lane, EC3 and is evidence of security conscious Roman Londoners. It would have fitted into a complicated lock mechanism, probably for doors or heavy duty furniture such as chests – although few examples of actual locks survive. Complicated slide keys had different shaped teeth, although the one here seems to be of a more simple design (a ‘Slide’ Type 1). The key would also have been attachable to a belt via the hole in the handle. A wide variety of keys have been unearthed from Roman London of which slide keys are one of the most common types.

And yesterday’s winner….

Was the Antler Comb from Pudding Lane, EC3 that was packed during week 2 by Tuesday volunteer Kim. An unusually long example, it dates to the Late Saxon period (C10^th). Single-sided and composite (riveted), it originally had 92 teeth. Standard decoration has been applied to the connecting plates in the form of a saltire – a heraldic symbol: the form of a diagonal cross. Horizontal lines worn across the teeth may be due to contact with a comb-case. In the later medieval period horn is replaced by wood as a more common material for combs, although ivory is also popular throughout.

So now all that’s left to do is decide which of these should be crowned THE OBJECT OF LAARC VIP11. To choose your winner, click on the word VOTE below:

VOTE

VOTING HAS NOW CLOSED

Voting will remain open until noon Wed 12th Dec, with the winner announced on these pages on Thursday 13th December.

If you’ve enjoyed voting for your favourite objects, please share this page with others and feel free to leave a comment telling us why the object you went for got your vote.

Object of LAARC VIP11 – Round 4

We’ve had a record amount of votes over the competition so far and I hope you’ve all been enjoying selecting your favourite objects from our daily contests. Our finalists so far are the Plaster Horse Head from Monday, the Clay Tobacco Pipe from Tuesday and yesterday’s winner:

There’s some amazing objects to choose from today, but which will get enough votes to become the final finalist. It’s time for Round 4:

To start, one of the oldest objects in this competition, an Antler Mattock from Beddington Sewage Farm. Audited by Thursday volunteers Josephine & Emily during week 9, this prehistoric objects dates to the Early Bronze Age (c.3500 BC). To the specialists out there that study such things it is known as a base-axe type 1. Antler was a common (and easily acquired) material used to make tools by Prehistoric peoples. Most well-known are those used as ‘soft’ hammers in flint knapping, to produce a range of sharpened tools – the most common surviving material from prehistory. Our antler mattock was found in a ditch, (was it originally used to excavate it?) and accounts for the interpretation of this early London landscape as a managed field system.

Second today is a Roman Probe, also from Beddington, though an earlier excavation. Its either a scoop-probe (cyathiscomele) or spatula-probe (spathomele) and functioned as both a medical and cosmetic instrument. One end is missing – the potential spoon or scoop – used to extract cosmetics from containers, whilst the probe on the opposite end would have been used to apply them. Alternatively it could also act as a small cautery. Although these objects are reasonably common across Britain, it raises interesting questions about identity and ‘Romanisation’ at this outer Londinium villa site. The object was audited by Friday volunteer Zey, during week 8.

The next object was packed during week 2 by Tuesday volunteer Kim. This Antler Comb from Pudding Lane, EC3.  is an unusually long example dating to the Late Saxon period (C10^th). Single-sided and composite (riveted), it originally had 92 teeth. Standard decoration has been applied to the connecting plates in the form of a saltire – a heraldic symbol: the form of a diagonal cross. Horizontal lines worn across the teeth may be due to contact with a comb-case. In the later medieval period horn is replaced by wood as a more common material for combs, although ivory is also popular throughout.

The last object was audited by Tuesday volunteers Sunny & Sue during week 7. From High Street Brentford, this ‘Griffin’ Bottle Seal is a decorative piece of glass with the seal (or ‘prunt’) dating it as a post-medieval (1650-1850) wine bottle. Seals are fairly common – the pad of glass was imprinted with a device when hot, and reveals the owner of a tavern through initials or tavern sign. This one has been interpreted as a griffin – perhaps the Griffin pub was a ‘local’ in Brentford, or maybe the wine came from further afield. Unfortunately no encyclopaedic catalogue exits for London bottle seals, so no comparative example has been discovered.

And that’s your lot. Which would you like to see return tomorrow to compete in the Grand Final? Click on the word VOTE below to make your selection:

VOTE

Voting has now closed. Click here to vote in the Grand Final.

Object of VIP11 – Round 3

Things are heating up as our Eleventh Volunteer Inclusion Project’s object competition moves into its third day. Yesterday saw the highest number of votes we’ve ever had and most of them went to…

THE CLAY PIPE WITH THE LITTLE LAD ON THE LOO!

This now joins Monday’s plaster horse head and will compete in the Grand Final this Friday. Ready for Round 3?

Your first option was audited by Tuesday volunteer Aris during week 3. This Roman Slide Key was discovered in 1981 at Pudding Lane, EC3 and is evidence of security conscious Roman Londoners. It would have fitted into a complicated lock mechanism, probably for doors or heavy duty furniture such as chests – although few examples of actual locks survive. Complicated slide keys had different shaped teeth, although the one here seems to be of a more simple design (a ‘Slide’ Type 1). The key would also have been attachable to a belt via the hole in the handle. A wide variety of keys have been unearthed from Roman London of which slide keys are one of the most common types.

Your second choice are Medieval Strap Loops from Cross Keys Court, EC2 which were audited by Friday volunteer Emma during week 4. They are a series of strap loops still joined from the mould, dating to c.1270-1350. The rivets of the metal frames would probably have been cut shorter once separated. Strap loops were used to hold down loose parts of straps – a simple dress accessory, the ‘rivet from’ going back to the Viking period. The strap loops are made of gunmetal (an alloy of copper, tin and zinc) – ‘inferior’ metals had been banned by the London Guilder’s Charter in 1321 and relaxed in the later 14^th Century.

Object number 3 was also audited during week 4, by Wedneday’s U3A volunteer Trish. It’s a Ceramic Buckle/Strap Mould from the same site as the one above, Cross Keys Court (though not the mould that made the strap loop above). It may only have been used once and hundreds of these objects could be produced at any one time, the mould being made of layers. Such moulds are rare, in comparison to their products, and provide an insight into medieval industry. Waterfront sites produce a proliferation of leather and metal finds that can be dated from sealed assemblages; however this is a rare inland sight that has produced some meaningful artefacts.

The last option today is from Roman Road, E3 and was audited by Thursday volunteer Ben during week 8. No guesses as to the type of archaeology unearthed at Roman Rd, however, this object is 20^th Century and has been identified as a Cosmetic Burner, by both our current and former Archive Managers (who both have a passion for glass albeit at different ends of the archaeological spectrum). The vessel, known as ‘The Lamp’ would have been used to melt wax which would then have been used as a cosmetic – probably to fix hair. As it was audited during N/M-ovember, we’re suggesting that perhaps this burner would have assisted with gentlemanly moustache waxing…

So which of these do you think should join the others in the Grand Final. To choose your favourite click the word VOTE below:

VOTE

Voting has now closed. Voting for Round 4 is currently open

Voting will close at noon tomorrow when the winner will be announced and Round 4 will commence. Thanks for joining in!