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PLATE
Unique ID: NLM-577DD7
Object type certainty: Possibly
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation 
Copper alloy
Plate. Possibly part of a fitting from farm machinery. Cast fragment comprising paired flanges whose outer edges bear deep longitudinal scratches, and a central oval-ended slot whose edge is sharpened by heavy wear; the object bears the stubs of parallel lugs opposite the flanges, broken at the same point on each side.
Dr Kevin Leahy has kindly examined this object, and notes the traces of very heavy wear as significant in its identification. He kindly notes he has seen such objects before, and that, despite an attractive curvilinear form reminiscent of Late Bronze Age horsegear or Iron Age metalwork, no such Prehistoric parallels are known to him. He suggests this piece may be designed to channel stalks or twine in an agricultural machine such as a reaper/binder, whose operation which would produce the characteristic heavy wear of the working surface and the gouging of outer faces.
If this interpretation were to be sustained, this object would be comparable to those round-bowled spoons objects formerly identified as 'apothecary spoons' which are actually parts of agricultural seed drills. Suggested date: Modern, 1800-1950.
Length: 26.4mm, Width: 32.1mm, Thickness (at flanges): 9.3mm, Weight: 18.2mm.
Class: Agricultural Machinery
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: MODERN
Period from: MODERN
Period to: MODERN
Date from: Circa AD 1800
Date to: Circa AD 1950
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 26.4 mm
Width: 32.1 mm
Thickness: 9.3 mm
Weight: 18.2 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Tuesday 14th February 2012
Personal details
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Other reference numbers
Other reference: NLM19802a
Materials and construction
Primary material: Copper alloy
Manufacture method: Cast
Completeness: Incomplete
Spatial metadata
Region: East Midlands (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Lincolnshire (County)
District: West Lindsey (District)
To be known as: near Swinhope
Spatial coordinates
Grid reference source: From finder
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 0.1 metre square.
References cited
No references cited so far.
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Timeline of associated dates
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