Rights Holder: Derby Museums Trust
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UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT
Unique ID: DENO-6C66C4
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation 
A lead object with a fragment of bone embedded into it. The bone has been identified as a cattle or horse rib by Dr Umberto Albarella, Reader in Zooarchaeology at the University of Sheffield. The lead encases the bone very closely, suggesting it was poured molten over the bone, which was already excarnated (de-fleshed), and apparently broken - the lead has flowed along the fracture at one end of the bone. There are impressions in the lead which may indicate other bone fragments, now missing. The other side of the lead is flat with regular edges and stepped 'lip', as if the lead has adopted the shape of some object into which it was poured, perhaps as a sealant.
It has been suggested that the object is part of an ossuary or reliquary. There are incised marks in the lead near the bone, which may represent attempts to break open or free the bones. Alternatively the marks might indicate that the lead was used as a soft anvil with the bone acting as a guide. The object may also have been part of a crossbones plaque. The findspot for this object is close to the site of a hall destroyed by fire in the Civil War - it is possible there is a connection.
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: UNKNOWN
Period from: UNKNOWN
Period to: UNKNOWN
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 95.5 mm
Width: 42 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight: 187.6 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Thursday 14th June 2018
Personal details
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Other reference numbers
Other reference: Derby E8826
Materials and construction
Primary material: Lead
Manufacture method: Cast
Completeness: Fragment
Spatial metadata
County or Unitary authority: Derbyshire (County)
District: North East Derbyshire (District)
Parish or ward: Ashover (Civil Parish)
Spatial coordinates
4 Figure: SK3562
Four figure Latitude: 53.15398994
Four figure longitude: -1.47807544
1:25K map: SK3562
1:10K map: SK36SE
Grid reference source: Generated from computer mapping software
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.
References cited
No references cited so far.
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