January 2011
Archaeological Findings in the River Thames
At the January, 2011 meeting the Club's President, Chris Squires, introduced Bob Wells whose talk, "A River's Tale”, was a fascinating account of archaeological discoveries from the upper tidal Thames between Vauxhall and Kew. Examples of finds - badges, buttons and coins - were also displayed.
The talk began with an engaging recitation of "The River's Tale", a poem written by Rudyard Kipling for C.R.L. Fletcher’s History of England’ (1911). It relates the river Thames' story from prehistoric times to the emergence of man. The poem proved an eloquent introduction to the subsequent description of how artefacts recovered from the Thames reflect the history of human life around the river.
Contours of the Thames as it flows to the sea result in erosion of one side of the river which is then deposited downstream. At low tide it is possible to gain access to the foreshore and search both by eye and using a metal detector for any artefacts that have been exposed. This requires a Thames Foreshore Permit, issued by the Crown Estate and administered by the Port of London Authority, which entitles the holder to search through the top three inches. Essential safety precautions include nearest access to dry land and a set of tide tables!
The location of finds can be recorded using GPS and reported to the Museum of London as part of the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
The illustrated account started chronologically with fossils some 300 million years old. The first human artefacts originating from 7,000 BC were Stone Age flint axes - "Thames picks" - and arrowheads and bone or antler points used as harpoons. A "founders" hoard including ingots was left by Bronze Age (2,300 to 700 BC) tinkers who made and repaired tools such as gouges and sickle blades and weapons including spear points.
Also, from the Late Bronze Age, one of the first examples of jewellery, a halved composite gold ring. Iron Age (700 BC to AD 43) finds included early examples of coins with a high tin content that were cast in strips. On one side was the head of Apollo and a bull on the obverse. Finds from the Roman occupation (AD 43 to AD 450) included a brooch worn by a Germanic auxiliary and a buckle with the characteristic ring and dot design.
Roman rule ended with Saxon incursions as part of the Germanic settlement and this period is marked by relics of warfare - iron blades, spear heads and arrow heads - but also tweezers decorated, again, with the ring and dot design. A hammer of Thor silver pendant is evidence of other, Vikings invaders.
An Irish gilt- bronze carved mount from this period was found to be a Pictish decoration from a Christian reliquary box stolen by Vikings but lost while camping at Fulham. The reliquary box would have been claimed to contain the physical remains of a saint and was an important part of Christian ritual from about the 4th century. Later evidence of Christian England in the 12th century was reflected in finding a Thomas A' Beckett lead pilgrimage badge and a crucifix brooch.
The introduction of tobacco from the Americas to Europe in the 16th century resulted in many clay pipes recovered from the Thames. Early examples have a small bowl but it became bigger and the stem longer following the subsequent reduction in the price of tobacco as smoking became increasingly popular.
Increasing trade and commerce during the Middle Ages is reflected in the number of coins recovered from the Thames. Early examples were the "cut" farthing (a quarter of a penny), half penny and one penny from the reign of Henry III (1207 -1272) and the gold half ryal of Edward 1V (1442 -1483). Later coins included a Charles I silver shilling and, following the Civil War and Charles' execution in 1649, a half groat worth two pennies minted during the Commonwealth (1649 - 1660).
A lack of small coinage for change lead to the use of trading tokens and this was illustrated by a 17th century example issued by Margreat (sic) Reynolds at the Baker's Arms, Chichester. Thames ferrymen in the 18th century also gave small change in the form of locally made lead tokens.
From the 17th century, seals came increasingly into use for authentication, including personal identity. Function and decoration combined in a Georgian gold fob seal with grouse on one side and hunting dogs on the other. Personal jewellery in the form of mourning rings or memento mori were popularised by Queen Victoria following the death of Prince Albert but had for centuries, according to the will of the deceased, been left to family and friends.
The talk ended with two further finds, one bizarre and the other macabre. Toy cannons capable of firing shot were used in the 18th and 19th century by children to re-enact sea battles. When a skull was found near Putney the site was taken over by professional archaeologists who found a healed hole in the skull and established the remains of Putney man were dolichocranic (long-headed), typical of Middle Iron Age skulls found in the Thames.
The vote of thanks was given by John Marriage, appropriately a Probus member with family connections to Thames watermen, who expressed the Club’s appreciation of an excellent talk.