The Museum Collection: Post-medieval Archaeology
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Bradford on Avon Museum, Wiltshire
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In this country, the Middle Ages are considered to have finished in 1485, when Richard III was defeated at the Battle of Bosworth Field. After that come the Tudor dynasty, the Reformation, the Stuarts, Georgians, the reign of Victoria and modern times.
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The bowl of a clay tobacco pipe. The long stems break into many pieces and are very common objects in the gardens of houses in the historic core of settlements, but whole bowls are less usual. This example was made in Rode, Somerset in the 19th century.
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An example of another common find in gardens is this piece of combed slipware pottery. The unfired pot was dipped in liquid clay (the slip) to coat it. The usual pieces have a pattern of dark lines on top of the slip, often ‘combed’ like the icing of a Bakewell tart, to add extra interest, before glaze was added and the pot was fired. It probably dates from the 18th century and may have been made in Bristol.
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The label attached to this spoon explains that it was found “under the Saxon Church”. This probably means under one of the outbuildings that were removed when the church was restored in the late 19th century. It is of a type called a pied-de-biche spoon (doe’s foot), referring to the shape of the end of the handle and is of 17th century date.
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Also of 17th century date is this Nuremberg jetton (originally jeton), not a coin or a tradesman’s token, but a coin-like metal piece that was used for on a lined board (exchequer), like an abacus, in doing accounts. It was made of a copper alloy in the German city of Nürnberg by Wolff Lauffer, who died in 1651. The inscription is GOTES SEGEN MACHT REICH -God’s blessings brings riches. It was found in a garden in Bradford.
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