Materials word list

1

Stone

Geological

Natural stone

Stone

All unworked stone, including building rubble; excluding gemstone

Chalk, chert, coal, flint, granite, greenstone, ironstone, limestone, sandstone, shale, slate

1.1

Stone

Geological

Modified stone

Burnt flint; burnt stone

All modified, natural, unworked stone, such as burnt flint, chert or other stone; excluding gemstone

Burnt flint

1.2

Stone

Artefact

Worked stone

All worked stone objects such as building stone, grave markers, querns, spindle whorls, tesserae; includes ground stone objects such as polished axes; including stone working waste; excluding knapped stone objects or objects utilised for knapping; excluding objects made of gemstone or slate

Chalk, coal, granite, greenstone, jadeite, limestone, sandstone, shale

1.3

Stone

Artefact

Knapped stone

Worked flint

All objects made of knapped stone, commonly fine-grained chert (often flint) worked into tools (typically, although not exclusively, prehistoric) such as handaxes, scrapers, arrowheads, gunflints; including knapped fine-grained volcanic stone such as obsidian; including knapped and polished objects such as flint knives; including knapping waste; includes stones utilised for the knapping process, such as flint or quartzite percussors

Chert, flint, greensand chert, Langdale tuff, obsidian

1.4

Stone

Artefact

Worked slate

Slate

All finished slate objects and slate working debris, including e.g. roof tiles, styli; slate working waste

Worked slate

1.5

Stone

Artefact

Stone aggregate

All manufactured stone composites

Asphalt; concrete

2

Gem

Gem

Gem

All precious and semi-precious stones; organic gem material such as amber, jet and pearl

Amber, amethyst, carnelian, diamond, emerald, jet, pearl, ruby, sapphire

3

Earth mix

Ecofact

Earth mix

Clay; ochre

Unmodified clays or soil material, including pigments such as ochre

3.1

Earth mix

Ecofact

Burnt clay

All fragments of accidentally or incidentally burnt clay or other earth mix; in initial recording, can be used as a general term from which Clay lining and Daub can be extracted following further study

3.2

Earth mix

Artefact

Clay lining

All fragments of preserved clay lining from structural features such as hearths, ovens, kilns etc

3.3

Earth mix

Artefact

Daub

All fragments of clay used in wattle and daub construction, often with characteristic wattle impressions

3.4

Earth mix

Artefact

Mortar

Mortar/plaster

All fragments of mortar; used as a binding material in construction

Mortar

3.5

Earth mix

Artefact

Plaster

Mortar/plaster

All fragments of plaster; used to cover wall and ceiling surfaces

Plaster

4

Ceramic

Artefact

Ceramic

All ceramic products; ceramic substances that do not fit the related Material Types specified here should be identified as Ceramic

4.1

Ceramic

Artefact

Ceramic building material

All ceramic objects used structurally, including brick, drainpipes, roof furniture, tesserae, tile

Brick; chimney pot; tile

4.2

Ceramic

Artefact

Fired clay

All fired clay objects, including casting moulds, figurines, loomweights, kiln furniture; excluding building material, pipe-clay and building material

4.3

Ceramic

Artefact

Pipe clay

All objects made of pipe-clay, including figurines, tobacco pipes

4.4

Ceramic

Artefact

Pottery

Pot

All fired clay vessels

Earthenware, porcelain, refined earthenware, stoneware, terracotta

4.5

Ceramic

Artefact

Sanitary ware

Sanitary ware

Ceramic objects associated with ablutions and waste disposal

5

Glass

Artefact

Glass

All objects made of glass, including beads, vessels, window panes; also includes enamel and faience; if it cannot be identified separately, glass manufacturing and glass working waste can be included here until specifically identified during analysis

Cristallo; faience; enamel

6

Metal

Artefact

Metal

All objects made of metal; metals that do not fit the Material Types specified here should be identified as Metal

6.1

Metal

Artefact

Copper

All objects made of pure copper

6.2

Metal

Artefact

Copper alloy

All objects made of any copper alloy

6.3

Metal

Artefact

Gold

All objects made of gold or gold alloy

6.4

Metal

Artefact

Iron

All objects made of iron or iron alloys such as steel

6.5

Metal

Artefact

Lead

All objects made of lead or lead alloy, such as cloth seals, weights; all lead fitments or ancillary components such as flashing or window cames

Lead, pewter

6.6

Metal

Artefact

Silver

All objects made of silver or silver alloy

6.7

Metal

Artefact

Tin

All objects made of tin or tin alloy

6.8

Metal

Artefact

White metal

All objects made of white metals, such as aluminium; can be used for silver/tin or silver/tin alloys when the metal type has not been ascertained

Aluminium

7

Industrial debris

By-product

Industrial debris

All by-products from industrial processes, such as clinker, coal debris; by-product substances that do not fit, or cannot be identified as the more specific Material Types specified here, should be identified as Industrial debris

Clinker

7.1

Industrial debris

By-product

Industrial debris (glass)

All debris accruing from manufacturing or working glass

Furnace lining; slag

7.2

Industrial debris

By-product

Industrial debris (metal)

All debris accruing from metal production and metal working, such as slag, hammerscale; also furnace lining

Smithing slag; Furnace slag; hammerscale

8

Synthetic material

Artefact

Synthetic material

Artificial composite materials, including compounds, polymers, synthetic materials

Plastic; nylon

9

Human

Human

Human remains

Human bone

All human remains

Human bone; human hair; teeth; calculus

10

Animal

Ecofact

Vertebrate remains

Animal remains

All vertebrate non-bone remains, other than human, unmodified for utilisation; such as vertebrate shells (eg turtle), bird eggshell or fat.

Eggshell; fat; fish-scales; fur; gut; hair; skin

10.1

Animal

Ecofact

Animal bone

All unworked bone, teeth or similar substances related to vertebrate animals, including amphibians, birds, fish and mammals; including bone that is accidentally modified, eg with butchery or chopping marks; can be used for eg antler and horn until more detailed identification has been carried out

Bone; claws; otoliths; teeth

10.2

Animal

Ecofact

Antler

All unworked antler

Red deer antler

10.3

Animal

Ecofact

Horn

All unworked horn

Cow horn

10.4

Animal

Ecofact

Ivory

All unworked ivory; including mammal tusks or teeth large enough to be carved or worked into objects; including teeth or tusks from elephants, mammoths, whales, walruses

Walrus ivory

10.5

Animal

Ecofact

Arthropod remains

All unmodified parts of creatures of the class Arthropoda; does not include mollusc shell or insect remains

Crab, lobster

10.6

Animal

Ecofact

Insect remains

All remains of any part of an insect; preservation is usually, though not exclusively, through waterlogging

10.7

Animal

Ecofact

Mollusc shell

Shell

All unmodified mollusc shell; includes marine and land molluscs which will be identified more closely in specialist appraisal or analysis

Mussel, oyster, snail

11

Faecal matter

Ecofact

Coprolite

All human and animal faecal remains, to be defined more precisely during specialist appraisal or analysis

Coprolite; faecal matter (unspecified)

12

Animal

Artefact

Modified animal product

All modified or worked animal remains; modified materials such as fur or eggshell that do not fit the more specific Material Types listed here (eg Worked bone; Modified shell) should be identified as Modified animal product

Eggshell; fur

12.1

Animal

Artefact

Worked bone

All objects made from animal bone or related substances; such as combs, comb blanks, die, gaming pieces, etc

Worked antler; worked bone

12.2

Animal

Artefact

Worked antler

All objects made of antler

12.3

Animal

Artefact

Worked horn

All objects made of horn

12.4

Animal

Artefact

Worked ivory

All objects and made of ivory

12.5

Animal

Artefact

Modified shell (mollusc)

All objects made of mollusc shell

Modified oyster shell, modified scallop shell

12.6

Animal

Artefact

Modified shell (vertebrate)

All objects made of vertebrate shell

Modified tortoise shell, modified turtle shell

13

Animal

Artefact

Leather

Animal skin that has been tanned or tawed

14

Textile

Artefact

Textile remains

Textile; fibre; string

All woven and twisted animal and plant products, including cloth, fibre, rope and string; for basketry use. Worked plant remains or Worked wood

Cotton; jute; linen; rattan; silk; withy; wool

14.1

Artefact

Fibre

Individual fibres or thread-like materials made from animal or plant products intended for use in, or a by-product of, textile production

15

Plant

Ecofact

Plant remains

All unmodified plant remains including chaff, seeds; includes plant remains that cannot be specifically identified until specialist appraisal or analysis, e.g. fragments of unworked wood

Chaff; flower; leaf; phytolith; seed

15.1

Plant

Ecofact

Plant remains (charred)

All charred plant remains such as nutshell; excluding charcoal; important to note if selected for scientific dating

15.2

Plant

Ecofact

Plant remains (mineralised)

All mineralised plant remains other than wood

15.2

Plant

Ecofact

Plant remains (waterlogged)

All waterlogged plant remains other than wood

15.3

Plant

Ecofact

Wood

All unworked wood

Alder, ash, birch, hazel, lime, oak, willow, yew

15.4

Plant

Ecofact

Wood (burnt)

Charcoal

All unworked charred or carbonized wood (charcoal); note that samples identified for scientific dating will be treated differently

15.5

Plant

Ecofact

Wood (mineralised)

All mineralised wood

15.6

Plant

Ecofact

Wood (waterlogged)

All waterlogged wood

15.6

Plant

Artefact

Worked plant remains

All modified plant products; modified materials such as worked/utilised nutshell, that do not fit the Material Types specified here should be identified as Worked plant remains; use for basketry made from plant remains other than wood, eg reed

Reed basketry

15.7

Plant

Artefact

Worked wood

Worked wood; wood-working debris

All objects made of wood and bark; all wood-working debris such as woodchips; use for basketry made from wood, eg willow

Alder, ash, birch, hazel, lime, oak, willow, yew, willow basketry

16

Plant

Ecofact

Microfossil

Microscopic remains of animals or plants; such as diatoms, formanifera, ostracods, phytoliths, pollen

pollen; spores; phytoliths; diatoms

17

Sample

Ecofact

Flot

The material which floats during the flotation of samples collected for the recovery of charred plant remains

17.1

Sample

Ecofact

Residue

The material that does not float during the flotation of samples collected for the recovery of charred plant remains; also the material remaining following wet or dry sieving of coarse sieved samples