Record ID: LIN-DAB33E
Object type: WHETSTONE
Broad period: EARLY MEDIEVAL
County: Lincolnshire
Workflow stage: Published
A possible Middle Saxon object whetstone. The object is smaller than most whetstones, perhaps indicating it was used for fine working of objects. It is rectangular in section with a facet on all corners. It is broken at the thicker end, but tapers to a point at the terminal. Fine diagonal grooves are visible along both of the side faces but not the upper and lower faces, nor the facets.
Created on: Thursday 21st May 2015
Last updated: Wednesday 23rd September 2015
Spatial data recorded. This findspot is known as 'East Lindsey', grid reference and parish protected.

Record ID: LEIC-6CEBF8
Object type: WHETSTONE
Broad period: UNKNOWN
County: Leicestershire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Undated decorative whetsone, 97mm long, 30mm wide, 15mm thick and weighing 82.31grams. The object is rectangular in form and cross section, with rounded edges and has a distinct green/black marbled surface. It has been heavily worn along its centre on both sides.
Created on: Tuesday 9th June 2015
Last updated: Tuesday 9th June 2015
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NLM-E99F66
Object type: WHETSTONE
Broad period: ROMAN
County: Lincolnshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Fine grained Sandstone possible whetstone. Trapezoid straight-sided object of rectangular section, chipped at both ends and thickest at its wider end. The fine grained stone would lend itself to use as an improvised sharpener, and such mediocre honestones are most commonly reported from Roman contexts, though were also used before and after. Some doubt may be introduced by the tendency of some sedimentary stones to split neatly along bedding planes, as well as by other natural processes such as Aeolian sand-blasting, and by the lack of dishing from wear. Suggested date: Roman, 43-410.…
Created on: Monday 15th June 2015
Last updated: Monday 15th June 2015
Spatial data recorded. This findspot is known as 'Binbrook', grid reference and parish protected.

Record ID: NLM-4437B0
Object type: WHETSTONE
Broad period: UNKNOWN
County: Lincolnshire
Workflow stage: Published
Sandstone whetstone fragment. Very slightly tapered cylindrical stone object, flat at its broader end and broken at the other. The sides are lightly dished and facetted by wear. The use of various stones for sharpening, either commercially imported or, more usually in this region, collected from local drift deposits, was especially characteristic of the Romano-British and Anglo-Saxon periods. Contact with Scandinavia introduced phyllite and schist hones which would dominate the market for hone stones until the later Middle Ages. Suggested date: Unknown, Roman to Early Medieval, 43-850…
Created on: Wednesday 19th August 2015
Last updated: Wednesday 23rd September 2015
Spatial data recorded. This findspot is known as 'Swinhope', grid reference and parish protected.

Record ID: YORYM-3D9AFA
Object type: WHETSTONE
Broad period: UNKNOWN
County: East Riding of Yorkshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
An incomplete and worn stone object, probably a whetstone or hone of uncertain date. The object is formed from a finely grained dark grey stone, with a triangular section and sub-rectangular in form with one rounded terminal and a break to the opposite end. One surface is very smooth while another has been obscured by the addition of a white paint-like substance by the finder. The base is rough with a slight curve. The object is 40.4mm long, 21.3mm wide, 17.5mm thick and weighs 25.9g. While it is extremely difficult to date whetstones accurately without any supporting contextua…
Created on: Tuesday 6th October 2015
Last updated: Wednesday 7th October 2015
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: YORYM-3DAA6C
Object type: WHETSTONE
Broad period: UNKNOWN
County: East Riding of Yorkshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
An incomplete and worn stone object, probably a whetstone or hone of uncertain date. The object is formed from a finely grained dark grey stone, with an ovate section and sub-rectangular form with breaks to either end. Cut marks are present over both surfaces. The object is 70.3mm long, 31.1mm wide, 14.1mm thick and weighs 51.1g. While it is extremely difficult to date whetstones accurately without any supporting contextual evidence the area in which this object was found displays a high degree of Early-Medieval activity and is therefore likely to date to this period.
Created on: Tuesday 6th October 2015
Last updated: Wednesday 7th October 2015
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: YORYM-3DBD35
Object type: WHETSTONE
Broad period: UNKNOWN
County: East Riding of Yorkshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
An incomplete and worn stone object, probably a whetstone or hone of uncertain date. The object is formed from a finely grained dark reddish-grey stone, with a square section and sub-rectangular form with breaks to either end. Cut marks and wear are present over all surfaces. The object is 65.7mm long, 32.7mm wide, 31.1mm thick and weighs 126g. While it is extremely difficult to date whetstones accurately without any supporting contextual evidence the area in which this object was found displays a high degree of Early-Medieval activity and is therefore likely to date to this period.
Created on: Tuesday 6th October 2015
Last updated: Wednesday 7th October 2015
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: CORN-89FC47
Object type: WHETSTONE
Broad period: IRON AGE
County: Cornwall
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Incomplete whetstone for sharpening metal tools or flensing tool for cleaning hides with both ends broken off, engraved with a lobe and circle pattern on one face that is comparable to the decoration seen on Iron Age metalwork. There is also the beginnings of this pattern with S-shaped scrolls on the opposite flat face of the whetstone. This decoration is under, and therefore earlier than, one set of parallel linear grooves on the side edge of the whetstone, that consist of three shorter, wider lines, 5-6 mm in length and 2-3 mm in width, followed by another nine lines, 8 mm in length…
Created on: Thursday 22nd October 2015
Last updated: Monday 27th April 2020
Spatial data recorded.

• 

  Image not taken

Record ID: NMS-89F91B
Object type: WHETSTONE
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
County: Norfolk
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Incomplete medieval to post-medieval honestone of very hard, fine-grained, pinkish grey micaceous sandstone. At the break the cross-section is trapezoidal, 42 x 19-23mm, and at the end it is rectangular, 64 x 43mm. Three faces are gently concave. The fourth face, a narrow one, is flat but scoured by two deep V-section sharpening grooves which run the full length. There are two shallower grooves on the end. Extant length 79mm. 12th - 17th century.
Created on: Tuesday 3rd November 2015
Last updated: Thursday 7th July 2016
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NLM-DD2078
Object type: WHETSTONE
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
County: Lincolnshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Grey stone, probably Norwegian Schist. Whetstone fragment. Rectangular section fragment from a hone of imported Telemark Schist. Towards one end the object is broken across a hole of an hourglass form showing it was drilled from both sides. The hone narrows from its perforated upper end because of wear, and its longer narrow side is also lightly dished from use. Broken at both ends. The drilling of hones for suspended wear was characteristic of 'phyllite' hones of the later Anglo-Scandinavian period, though it was extended to the smaller Norwegian schist hones, made of a material whic…
Created on: Thursday 19th November 2015
Last updated: Thursday 19th November 2015
Spatial data recorded. This findspot is known as 'Swinhope', grid reference and parish protected.

Record ID: PUBLIC-848D45
Object type: WHETSTONE
Broad period: UNKNOWN
County: East Riding of Yorkshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
A fine grained, dark grey, oval-ended sandstone, broken at one end, used as a whetstone. A cone shaped stone with 3 sides having flat surfaces that have been smoothed by wear, and show evidence of being used for sharpening blades. The back is slightly concave and rougher. The improvised use of various stones from glacial drift for sharpening or rubbing stones is characteristic of the Roman and early Medieval periods until the Viking Age, when Scandinavian stones from the Telemark region became widely available. Suggested date: Unknown, Roman to early Medieval, 43 - 850. The known hist…
Created on: Wednesday 9th December 2015
Last updated: Tuesday 9th August 2016
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: PUBLIC-09CFC5
Object type: WHETSTONE
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
County: Lincolnshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
The pointed tip from a broken stone whetstone or hone. The whetstone is made from very fine-grained sandstone with mica flecks and areas with black patches. The material is very similar to coal measures sandstone but this has not been verified as the source for the stone. The stone is a pointed triangle in plan and sub-triangular in section. The sides are highly polished and faceted from the repeated action of sharpening blades.
Created on: Monday 10th November 2014
Last updated: Wednesday 26th November 2014
Spatial data recorded. This findspot is known as 'Utterby', grid reference and parish protected.

Record ID: NLM-E5E958
Object type: WHETSTONE
Broad period: UNKNOWN
County: Lincolnshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Compacted fine Sandstone [non-specialist identification by MF] water rolled cobble possible whetstone. Oval-ended pebble broken at one end. One face is smoothed by (presumably) longitudinal wear. The object now bears a sooty-looking deposit. The use of various erratic stones as improvised rubbers or grinders and sharpeners was common from Prehistory through to the end of the Early Medieval period, when access to better sharpening stones from Scandinavia led them to dominate the market. It is, however, possible that the limited wear on this example is the result of accidental or natura…
Created on: Tuesday 20th January 2015
Last updated: Wednesday 21st January 2015
Spatial data recorded. This findspot is known as 'Kelstern', grid reference and parish protected.

Record ID: NLM-E5FD8E
Object type: WHETSTONE
Broad period: UNKNOWN
County: Lincolnshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Compacted fine Sandstone [non-specialist identification by MF] water rolled cobble possible whetstone. Oval-ended pebble broken at one end. The object now bears a sooty looking deposit. The use of various erratic stones as improvised rubbers or grinders and sharpeners was common from Prehistory through to the end of the Early Medieval period, when access to better sharpening stones from Scandinavia led them to dominate the market. It is, however, possible that the limited wear on this example is the result of accidental or natural processes. Suggested date: Unknown, possibly 800 BC-AD…
Created on: Tuesday 20th January 2015
Last updated: Wednesday 21st January 2015
Spatial data recorded. This findspot is known as 'Kelstern', grid reference and parish protected.

• 

  Image not taken

Record ID: IARCH-175C64
Object type: WHETSTONE
Broad period: ROMAN
County: Wiltshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Created on: Tuesday 20th January 2015
Spatial data recorded. This findspot is known as 'Bishops Cannings', grid reference and parish protected.

• 

  Image not taken

Record ID: NMS-9B3B05
Object type: WHETSTONE
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
County: Norfolk
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Incomplete honestone of Norwegian Ragstone, both ends missing, of sub-rectangular cross-section and steadily diminishing thickness from one end to the other. There is a V-sectioned longitudinal groove on one face. Norwegian Ragstone was imported in quantity before the Conquest (Moore, D.T. and Ellis, S.E. in Rogerson and Dallas 1984, 107-11) and in Norfolk remained "the preferred material for hones during the late medieval period" (Mills, J.M. with Moore, D. in Shepherd Popescu 2009, 709). Length 50.5mm. Width 35.5mm. Thickness 13.5 - 7mm. Weight 42g.
Created on: Tuesday 25th June 2013
Last updated: Tuesday 17th June 2014
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: NMS-8E3531
Object type: WHETSTONE
Broad period: UNKNOWN
County: Lincolnshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
Possible whetstone. Shield-shaped, ractangular-sectioned, with angled, off-centre hole near flat top edge. Length 34mm. Width 23mm.Thickness 16mm. Undated, but probably Roman - Medieval, if a whetstone.
Created on: Monday 12th August 2013
Last updated: Tuesday 13th August 2013
Spatial data recorded.

Record ID: SF-23E526
Object type: WHETSTONE
Broad period: UNKNOWN
County: Suffolk
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
An incomplete pendant whetstone of uncertain date. It is formed from a thin, dark grey and fine grained stone that is slate-like in appearance. The surviving fragment is rectangular in form, oval sectioned and terminates at one end in old breaks. At the butt end the sides taper to a squared off end where there is an off-centred hourglass perforation. The entire object measures 31.30mm in length, 14.92mm in width, 3.65mm in thickness and 3.54g in weight. This is an incomplete pendant whetstone of uncertain date, possibly dating to the Early Bronze Age (c.2550-1600 BC) or perhaps even t…
Created on: Monday 19th August 2013
Last updated: Wednesday 9th October 2013
Spatial data recorded. This findspot is known as 'Cavenham', grid reference and parish protected.

Record ID: SF-23F8A3
Object type: WHETSTONE
Broad period: UNKNOWN
County: Suffolk
Workflow stage: Published
An incomplete pendant whetstone of uncertain date. It is formed from a medium to dark grey fine grained and micaceous stone, perhaps a micaceous schist, and is square in section, rectangular in form, terminating in old breaks at one end. The surviving end is triangular in profile with a worn hourglass perforation, an attempted second circular perforation visible on one side of the complete end. The entire object measures 50.43mm in length, 10.98mm in width, 11.81mm in thickness and 13.24g in weight. This is an incomplete pendant whetstone of uncertain date, possibly dating to the Earl…
Created on: Monday 19th August 2013
Last updated: Thursday 6th February 2014
Spatial data recorded. This findspot is known as 'Cavenham', grid reference and parish protected.

Record ID: YORYM-BE1C37
Object type: WHETSTONE
Broad period: EARLY MEDIEVAL
County: East Riding of Yorkshire
Workflow stage: Awaiting validation
An incomplete whetstone of probableEarly-Medieval date. The stone is cylindrical in profile and circular in section constructed from a fine grained sandstone with a high mica component. One end of the object appears to terminate in an old break, all other surfaces are smoothed. While this form of whetstone is fairly ubiquitous throughout history its association with securely dated Early-Medieval material would suggest a comparable date for this example.
Created on: Wednesday 2nd October 2013
Last updated: Monday 24th February 2014
Spatial data recorded.