The lid during excavation
(Photo: ©York Archaeological Trust)
The wet soils of Coppergate in York preserved many organic items including a box lid woven from willow. It looks just like part of a modern laundry basket but it is 700 years old and the product of a skilled medieval craftsman. It was recovered, together with some old shoes, from an excavated cellar within the remains a timber-framed building. The building seems to have been an ordinary residence rather than a workshop.
Reconstruction drawing of the building in which the lid was found
This was a rare and interesting object. When discovered the lid had been squashed out of shape by the soils around it and was very soft and fragile.
The challenge was to lift the lid without further damage so that it could be conserved and studied. The on-site conservation team carefully removed most of the dirt from its face. The lid was then undercut and successfully block-lifted from the ground and taken to the laboratory.
Find number 1976.7,
778; catalogue number 8931. Length 330mm, width 273mm.
For more information see: The Archaeology
of York 17/13, Wood and Woodworking in Anglo-Scandinavian and Medieval
York by C.A. Morris (2000), and 10/5, Buildings and Land Use at
and around 16-22 Coppergate by R.A. Hall and K. Hunter-Mann.
 |
 |
 |
 |