During our debut season at All Saints, North Street, we were lucky enough to find some fantastic artefacts. These objects would all have been personal possessions of people who lived, worked and worshipped along North Street many centuries ago.
The Archaeology Live! team hate to pick favourites, but a decision needs to be made as to which find will feature on the T-shirt for the upcoming 2015 season. Each year of Archaeology Live! has had a different T-shirt design to give trainees a unique reminder of their time on site. We always try and use an image of an artefact or feature discovered specifically on the current site. As 2014 was our first year at All Saints, we used one of the ‘maria’ tiles from the church’s newly restored Lady Chapel as the featured image; these can still be purchased from http://www.zikzak.co.uk/acatalog/all-saints-dig-york-t-shirts.html
So, which find will be the winner? It’s down to you to vote!
Here are the contenders:
Alan’s worked antler object.
This beautifully made object may have been a decorative spindle whorl, counter or gaming piece. It is likely to be medieval or perhaps even Viking in date.
Katie’s fragment of a 15th century Hambleton Ware lobed bowl.
This wonderful creature would have been set in the base of a communal drinking vessel. As people passed around the bowl, it would have emerged from the wine/beer/water and been rather amusing for all involved. Quite what the creature is remains a mystery. Dino from the Flinstones has been mooted but is rather unlikely…
Gina and Rob’s bone die
Gina’s dice (above) is in beautiful condition and could be anything between Roman and medieval in date. Rob’s dice (below) features a more 13th century style layout and has clearly been used for some time.
Kaye’s glass ring
This beautiful object is most likely Roman in date and would have been a stunning piece of jewellery when complete.
Barry’s fragment of a medieval seal jug
This seal would have graced the side of a 13th century York Glazed Ware jug. The image on the seal tells us that it may well have been commissioned by noteable York citizen Thomas FitzWalter to celebrate a marriage and/or birth of a son. A rare example of an artefact being linked to a single person or family.
Gerwin’s Belarmine Jug.
This grumpy looking individual is Cardinal Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621), a staunch anti-protestant who’s image adorned many thousands of 16th-17th century German stoneware drinking jugs. This provides wonderful evidence of post-medieval satire, as the cardinal was strongly opposed to excessive drinking!
Voting
Please cast your vote for which find should feature on the 2015 T-shirt on the poll below. The winner will be announced in the next couple of weeks once the Archaeology Live! team have counted and ejudicated the votes. If you feel we have omitted a deserving find from the shortlist, get in touch and let us know!
Over to you!
– Arran
