Record ID: NARC-980BB6
Object type: ARROWHEAD
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
County: Northamptonshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
An incomplete hand made iron arrowhead dating to the medieval period. The arrow is socketed, with a long socket of c. 45mm, and has a barbed head with a noticeable medial longitudinal spine. In profile it takes the shape of a circle with triangular protrusions on either side. Jessop (1997, 3) notes that this is a 'relatively simple design', the central spine providing 'improved lateral strength and aerodynamic properties'. The tips of the barbs have suffered abrasions, as has the terminal of the socket. This form is that described by Roger Ascham in 1545 as the 'broad head' or 'swal…
Created on: Wednesday 21st December 2005
Last updated: Thursday 24th February 2011
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NARC-444096
Object type: SPEAR
Broad period: EARLY MEDIEVAL
County: Northamptonshire
Workflow stage: Published
An iron socketed spearhead of broadly medieval date. Though corroded, the artefact survives relatively well and the angular blade shape can be clearly discerned. The blade turns in after 115-120mm at an angle of approximately 140 degrees. Beyond the blade tapers to a width of 14.3mm at its junction with the socket. The blade is flat with a shallow lozengiform section. The socket expands to a hollow circular section of diameter 24.3mm over a length of 100mm. The socket is broken at its terminal across 13.6mm. If this socket was once split, a trait indicative of an Anglo- Saxon date, th…
Created on: Monday 5th December 2005
Last updated: Monday 23rd May 2011
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NARC-638070
Object type: ARROWHEAD
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
County: Northamptonshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
An iron arrowhead. The arrow is barbed and socketed. It measures 50.1 mm in length and 41.2 mm wide. The tip is missing and the ends of the barbs are broken. The socket is 12.5 mm in diameter at the opening. The socket is centrally enclosed by the barbs which are flat and run down to the socket opening. The arrowhead is diamond shaped in section. The arrowhead is a derivative of Jessop's H3 type (1996, 194, 200; 1). The type was used for hunting and dates from the mid 13th century.
Created on: Wednesday 19th October 2005
Last updated: Thursday 24th February 2011
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NARC-C0BDD7
Object type: SPEAR
Broad period: ROMAN
County: Northamptonshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
An incomplete cast iron spear of uncertain date, possibly Roman or early-medieval. The spearhead is leaf-shaped with minimal space between the point at which the blade turns in and the shaft. The shaft, a useful diagnostic element, has unfortunately been broken close to the blade and the remainder lost. It is oval in section as it has survived; it would presumably have continued into a circular shaft. It is impossible for reasons given above to state whether or not the shaft was split. The blade is of a shallow lozengiform section (with rounded corners) and tapers gradually toward…
Created on: Thursday 29th September 2005
Last updated: Thursday 24th February 2011
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NARC-BFB916
Object type: KEY (LOCKING)
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Northamptonshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
A worn and corroded cast iron key of probable post-medieval date. The key has a seemingly solid stem of circular section, corrosion making it impossible to establish with the naked eye whether it is hollow. The bow is now missing making it impossible to suggest and original length for this artefact. The opposite end has an extant projecting tip of 6.1mm. The bit is 16.1mm in length and 16.8mm in depth and is of an 'S' shaped form, the 'S' created by a pair of assymetrical clefts c. 9.7mm long. The further of the two clefts from the stem is now all but filled with iron corrosion product.
Created on: Thursday 29th September 2005
Last updated: Thursday 24th February 2011
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NARC-BF9C54
Object type: KEY (LOCKING)
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Northamptonshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
A very worn and corroded cast iron key. The key has a seemingly solid stem of circular section, corrosion making it impossible to establish with the naked eye whether it is hollow. The stem is 54.4mm in length between bit and bow. It tapers towards the bow which is now but a fragment but was probably of oval shape. The opposite end has an extant projecting tip of 10.2mm. The bit is composed of two wards perpendicular to the stem with a space between them of 17.3mm. Both wards feature three symmetrical projections into the space. The projection closest to the stem is 6mm away from i…
Created on: Thursday 29th September 2005
Last updated: Thursday 24th February 2011
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NARC-3E4CB4
Object type: VESSEL
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
County: Northamptonshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
A cast iron body fragment from a medieval cauldron including what is possibly the base of a handle. The fragment is irregular in shape. There is a yellow residue on the interior, while the exterior is worn and highly corroded. The residue appears to mirror a casting seam around the waist of the vessel. Very approximately, the waist had a diameter of 220mm.
Created on: Friday 23rd September 2005
Last updated: Thursday 24th February 2011
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NARC-3E2F62
Object type: VESSEL
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
County: Northamptonshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
A very worn cast iron body fragment from a medieval cauldron including the rim. The fragment is irregular in shape. It features a small handle of the shape of a right-angled triangle. The everted rim has transverse linear moulded decoration. Although the rim is abraded it can be used to estimate a diameter for the top of the cauldron of c. 160mm, a small example.
Created on: Friday 23rd September 2005
Last updated: Thursday 24th February 2011
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NARC-12EBE3
Object type: AXE
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
County: Northamptonshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
A worn cast iron axehead dating to the medieval period or slightly later. Triangular in form it is a Ward Perkins (1940; 1993, 55-59) Type II carpenter's axe. It features the characteristic tubular socket of sub-pentagonal section, and the indentation between the lower edge of the blade and the socket. The lower edge of the blade slopes down at a sharp angle of forty-five degrees while the upper blade edge curves upwards. The cutting edge has been abraded in its upper sections; it is 102.3mm in length. The remnant of the shaft survives within the socket in addition to a piece of i…
Created on: Wednesday 21st September 2005
Last updated: Thursday 24th February 2011
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NARC-C396B1
Object type: LATCH
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
County: Northamptonshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
A worn cast iron object, probably a post-medieval latch fastener. This object consists of a handle positioned at an angle of approximately forty-five degrees to the rest of the frame. The frame has a shoulder that leads into a straight element. The latter is 34.1mm in length, 9.8mm wide and 11.3mm thick. The 'shoulder' is of similar width, 42.1mm long and a maximum of 30.5mm in thickness. The 'handle' is of similar width at the junction with the shoulder but tapers to 6.2mm before flaring out to a terminal 13.5mm wide. On examples illustrated in Alcock and Hall (1994, 34) the ter…
Created on: Monday 5th September 2005
Last updated: Thursday 24th February 2011
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NARC-840652
Object type: PADLOCK
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
County: Northamptonshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
A cast circular iron fragment from a medieval padlock. This discoidal element has dished obverse and reverse faces. On the obverse it features two rectangular depressions and a rectangular perforation; the depressions are on the same plane while the hole is perpendicular to them. On the reverse face the depressions turn into protrusions. The hole and the depressions presumably represent the way that these items were moved to allow opening and locking of the lock. The object is very worn and corroded. A complete example with similar perforations can be found illustrated in Egan (19…
Created on: Friday 2nd September 2005
Last updated: Thursday 24th February 2011
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NARC-5D3BD1
Object type: MOUNT
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
County: Northamptonshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
A worn and corroded cast iron mount. The mount is quatrilobe in form with a convex central boss. The boss is 22mm in diameter and features an off-centre circular perforation, probably for attachment. The four lobes are each themselves bilobial and have suffered from abrasions and wear. The mount is probably of medieval date.
Created on: Wednesday 31st August 2005
Last updated: Thursday 24th February 2011
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NARC-394005
Object type: KEY (MUSIC)
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
County: Northamptonshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
A worn cast iron object, possibly a medieval music key. The finder quite plausibly suggested that it once belonged to a lyre. The object features an expanded shaft which is c. 11.4mm at its terminal, having been c. 8.1mm at the junction of handle and shaft. At the terminal there was indentation whose form is now obscured by corrosion product. The handle takes the form of two conjoined wings with a central circular perforation. There is a pair of objects illustrated in Egan (1998, 244; fig. 190) which feature square-shaped apertures. It is posited that these were music keys, used …
Created on: Tuesday 12th July 2005
Last updated: Thursday 24th February 2011
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NARC-C02FC7
Object type: KEY (LOCKING)
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
County: Northamptonshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
A large medieval cast iron key. The key is heavily treated making it difficult to discern all of its features clearly. The key has a solid stem of circular section. The bow is oval in shape. The opposite end has a projecting tip of over 27mm. There are three wards, of which that closest to the bow has a rectangular cleft; the other wards might have clefts (especially that closest to the tip, which would offer symmetry to the bit) but these are obscured by the treatment. In form the door key is a Ward-Perkins (1940; 1993, 135) Type VIIA, a common form which dates from the fourtee…
Created on: Friday 24th June 2005
Last updated: Thursday 24th February 2011
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NARC-AB6031
Object type: BUCKLE
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
County: Northamptonshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
A cast iron artefact, probably a medieval buckle. Convention suggests that this object be classified as a buckle rather than a brooch due to the absence of the highly decorative features associated with annular brooches as well as the absence of an obvious pin constriction. The buckle is annular in shape and generally consistent in thickness. The frame is circular in section. There are no obvious pin notches or constriction. The frame and attached pin are apparently undecorated, though heavily corroded and treated. The attached cast pin is semi-circular in section. It is 44.3mm …
Created on: Thursday 23rd June 2005
Last updated: Thursday 24th February 2011
Spatial data recorded.

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Record ID: NARC-48C336
Object type: KNIFE
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
County: Northamptonshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
A probable hilt plate from a small knife. The artefact is iron. It is oval in shape with a domed obverse and flat reverse. The centre of the object has a regular rectangular hole passing through it, probably for the tang of a knife. Similar artefacts are illustrated in Brian Read's 'Metal Artefacts of Antiquity' (2001, page 88; fig 643-647). This artefact may be medieval, dating from the 13th to 16th century.
Created on: Wednesday 25th May 2005
Last updated: Thursday 24th February 2011
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NARC-6EF621
Object type: SPUR
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
County: Northamptonshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Fragment of an arm and attachment from an iron spur. The fragment is 65 mm long and 6.7 mm wide at the break in the arm. The arm flattens as it reaches the attachment end. The arm is quite curved, suggesting a high medieval date. Examples are illustrated in Ellis (1991 pages 73-77; figs 1-44).
Created on: Tuesday 15th March 2005
Last updated: Thursday 24th February 2011
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NARC-6D8DF3
Object type: SPUR
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
County: Northamptonshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
A damaged iron rowel spur, missing its rowel and strap attachments. The neck of the spur terminal is fairly short at 27.6 mm long. It terminates with a slit, within which the rowel would have been placed. The arms of the spur, which would grip the ankle, are quite close together, although this appears to have been largely a result of the right hand arm having been bent inwards. The spur is ridged on the obverse and the reverse, and flat on the inside, making it triangular in section. The angle of the spur terminal leans back, suggesting that the spur arms would curve underneath the rid…
Created on: Tuesday 15th March 2005
Last updated: Thursday 24th February 2011
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NARC-1B2F92
Object type: AWL
Broad period: ROMAN
County: Northamptonshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
An iron implement, probably an awl. The object is 114.9 mm long. It has a diamond shaped head (rectangular in section) which tapers into the shaft, which is circular in section. The shaft expands from 6.5 to 9.7 mm in diameter. The shaft comprises 60 mm of the object's length. The object is likely to have been used for leather working. A similar object is illustrated in Stead and Rigby (1986, page 148; fig 498) which is Roman and dates from the 3rd century AD. However, this object bears a certain similarity to another object illustrated in Stead and Rigby (1986, page 148; fig 496) whic…
Created on: Friday 11th March 2005
Last updated: Thursday 24th February 2011
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NARC-19D0B4
Object type: SURGICAL INSTRUMENT
Broad period: UNKNOWN
County: Northamptonshire
Workflow stage: Published
An iron implement, probably a surgical or dental tool. The object is 95 mm long and has a curved hook at each end, one at a right angle and one curving back into the shaft at an angle of 300 degrees. The shaft of the implement is circular in section and tapers from 4 mm to 0.7 mm. The object is currently of an uncertain date.
Created on: Friday 11th March 2005
Last updated: Thursday 24th February 2011
Spatial data recorded.