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Small Finds
The term ‘special (or small) find’ covers all the objects retrieved from the site other than ‘bulk’ finds such as pottery and building materials. They range from metal dress items such as brooches and buckles, to bone gaming counters and glass beads, all of which add to our picture of the everyday lives of Leicester’s inhabitants, whilst coins can provide important evidence of dating.
Whilst ceramic objects will often survive for thousands of years unscathed, few metal or organic objects will have survived burial unaffected by a combination of physical, chemical and biological decay. Organic objects such as wood, bone, ivory, horn, leather, or textiles rot, whilst metals and glass corrode and an object that appears in good condition, may in jfact be very fragile, or decorated surfaces may be obscured by corrosion. For this reason each type of material has specific cleaning, conservation and storage requirements. Some organic materials need to be kept damp whilst metals, particularly iron, need to be kept dry in order avoid further decay, brought on by the presence of moisture and air. Silica gel is used as a desiccant to control humidity.
X-raying is used routinely to reveal valuable information from metal finds coated in corrosion. Details of decoration, construction and decay can often be seen without the need for cleaning. The series of photos here show a Roman stylus (writing implement); as it appeared after excavation (top), an x-ray showing the stylus (above) beneath the layers of corrosion and after cleaning off the corrosion (below). Without x-raying, this stylus, the first to be recognized from these excavations, would have been assumed to be yet another iron nail!
Cleaning by hand is the best way to remove thick corrosion layers, working with fine hand-tools and with the aid of a low-power microscope. The purpose of cleaning an object is to reveal the original surface detail, although this surface may be within the layers of corrosion and no longer be metallic. Excavated finds may have lost much of their metal content in burial, making them very fragile. Below are more examples of cleaned and conserved finds.
Left, Roman copper alloy steelyard or balance. Below, fragment of venus figurine made of kaolin (china clay).
Above left, medieval copper alloy buckle (14th century) associated with a human burial. Above right, Roman glass perfume bottle.
Below left, Saxon cruciform brooch of copper alloy. Below right, arm from a bronze crucifixion statue from St. Peter's church
