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BILL HOOK

Unique ID: BH-D516CD

Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow status: Awaiting validation

An incomplete and very corroded cast iron bill hook dating to the Roman period. The bill hook, of Rees 1979, type 4, has a sub-trapezoidal-shaped blade with a straight edge and a gently curving back. There is no evidence of a hook or beak on the blade edge, nor a spike at the back. Both tips of the blade are broken. From the blade edge, the plate gradually thickens and tapers inwards towards a broken long open-ended socket set at an angle roughly parallel to the blade. The socket is rectangular in plan and in cross section, and originally may well have been longer. A roughly v-shaped vertical aperture extends from the top edge of the socket down the length of one side and partially into the blade. The socket cavity is hollow. All of the surfaces and edges of the bill hook are heavily corroded leaving an uneven finish. The bill hook measures 260mm in length. The blade is a maximum of 144mm in width and 13mm thick. The socket measures roughly 120mm in length, a maximum of 33mm wide and 22mm in depth, and 9mm thick. It weighs 1172.4 grams.

See Rees 1979, Agricultural Implements in Prehistoric and Roman Britain, British Archaeological Report 69, part II, p. 470 and figs. 228-231 for further examples.

Subsequent actions

Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder

Chronology

Broad period: ROMAN
Period from: ROMAN
Period to: ROMAN
Date from: Circa AD 50
Date to: Circa AD 400

Dimensions and weight

Quantity: 1
Length: 260 mm
Width: 144 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight: 1172.4 g

Discovery dates

Date(s) of discovery: Monday 1st January 2018 - Sunday 19th August 2018

Personal details

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Materials and construction

Primary material: Iron
Manufacture method: Cast
Completeness: Incomplete

Spatial metadata

Region: Eastern (European Region)
County or Unitary authority: Hertfordshire (County)
District: East Hertfordshire (District)
Parish or ward: Watton-at-Stone (Civil Parish)

Spatial coordinates

4 Figure: TL2819
Four figure Latitude: 51.85492029
Four figure longitude: -0.14286955
1:25K map: TL2819
1:10K map: TL21NE
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.

References cited

No references cited so far.

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Timeline of associated dates

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Audit data

Recording Institution: BH
Created: 6 years ago
Updated: 5 years ago

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