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Unique ID: SF4690
Object type certainty: Possibly
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status: Published
Cylindrical stone object, made from quartzite, 86 mm in diameter and 54 mm thick. Both of the circular faces are smoothly polished; one face also has a hole 23-25 mm in diameter and c. 25 mm deep drilled into it. For most of its depth this hole is straight-sided, but the top 8 mm or so flares outwards and is rough, as if it has fractured off. The outer walls of the cylinder have rough 'pecking' marks (resulting from shaping) that have not been polished away. This object was provisionally identified as prehistoric and shown to the Department of Prehistory and Early Europe at the British Museum (Gill Varndell and Jill Cook). It is not familiar to them. It was also shown to curators at Medieval and Modern Europe, who did not recognise it. The hole in the top is too small for a Viking-period stone lamp. It is therefore suggested that it may be the 'business end' of a large pestle, with a wooden shaft fitting into the hole on top. This would however not explain the polish around the hole. The date is as uncertain as the function; as it is not recognised by archaeologists, it may be comparatively recent.
Notes:
This record was created before the Portable Antiquities Scheme began using the Central Database. We are aware that this record may fall below our usual standards of recording, and we are working to rectify this.
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
Period from: POST MEDIEVAL
Date from: AD 1540
Quantity: 1
Thickness: 54 mm
Weight: 687 g
Diameter: 86 mm
Date(s) of discovery: Saturday 1st January 1955
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