Archaeology

I love old junk... but did you know I also like really, REALLY old junk?? :P

This is a piece of clay tobacco pipe I found at Weymouth, on the seaside. I love collecting bits of clay pipe I find in fields, most that I find I think date from 1640-1720 - but this one is special. I was hunting for sea glass at the time, amongst the gravel, and suddenly spotted it. It's been worn smooth by the sea and I like to imagine the rest of it clamped between the scurvy teeth of a haughty sailor as he set the course of his vessel... it also reminds me of a lovely day with my boyfriend and friends :)

Another piece of clay pipe that's a bit special. I found this one last week, it's another heel (I never find bits of bowl, most often just stem), but this one is the very first I've found with any decoration, let alone a maker's mark inside a love heart! I didn't get the TM in as sharp focus as I would have liked, but I think I may have traced it to have been manufactured by Thomas Moore, or Thomas Monks, in the late seventeenth/early eighteenth century. Aah, history.

And finally, the oldest finds of them all. The spearhead/scraper on the right I found a couple of years ago, just on a dog walk. The beautiful (PROUDNESS!) arrowhead I found in a nearby field, not three days ago, lying on top of a newly-ploughed field, just as you see here - not even any mud. I ran home squeaking and my dad let out a boyish yell and started taking pictures whilst going green in the face.

The best thing about old junk... is when you find free old junk :)