Small finds is an archaeological term for artifacts discovered on
excavations that are considered distinct from the common finds for that
type site
In archaeology, a type site (American English) or type-site (British English) is the site used to define a particular archaeological culture or other typological unit, which is often named after it. For example, discoveries at La Tène and H ...
or type phase on multi
phasic sites. The special nature of the find is dictated by research agendas and the information the artifact can provide.
As the name implies, small finds tend to be small artifacts, and generally appear infrequently on sites. Some examples of artifacts classified as small finds include items of personal adornment, clothing, health, or hygiene, hand tools or items used for food preparation, recreation, or crafts like
needlework
Needlework refers to decorative sewing and other textile arts, textile handicrafts that involve the use of a Sewing needle, needle. Needlework may also include related textile crafts like crochet (which uses a crochet hook, hook), or tatting, ( ...
; and personal items like
smoking pipe
A smoking pipe, often simply referred to as a pipe, is used to inhale (or taste) the smoke of a burning substance, typically (though not exclusively) used to consume a Psychoactive drug, psychoactive substance; this most commonly refers to a to ...
s, children's toys, or
coins
A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...
.
In particular, coins can be much more specific when it comes to dating evidence.
Small finds are usually treated differently in the recording system; often they are recorded on
plan
A plan is typically any diagram or list of steps with details of timing and resources, used to achieve an Goal, objective to do something. It is commonly understood as a modal logic, temporal set (mathematics), set of intended actions through wh ...
rather than being attributed to a single
context
In semiotics, linguistics, sociology and anthropology, context refers to those objects or entities which surround a ''focal event'', in these disciplines typically a communicative event, of some kind. Context is "a frame that surrounds the event ...
like other generic finds.
Gallery
013B65. Roman coin, Siliqua of Jovian (FindID 264431).jpg , Roman coin
03-640 Harness pendant and mount (FindID 78932).jpg , Enamelled medieval harness pendant
Middle Saxon silver gilt pin (FindID 805530).jpg , Silver gilt pin
04-113 Neolithic axe (FindID 69377).jpg , Neolithic flint axe
04-25 Lead spindle whorl (FindID 67784).jpg , Lead spindle whorl
See also
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Archaeological field survey
In archaeology, survey or field survey is a type of field research by which archaeologists (often landscape archaeologists) search for archaeological sites and collect information about the location, distribution and organization of past human ...
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Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact (British English) is a general term for an item made or given shape by humans, such as a tool or a work of art, especially an object of archaeological interest. In archaeology, the word has become a term of particular nua ...
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Assemblage (archaeology)
This page is a glossary of archaeology, the study of the human past from material remains.
A
B
C
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E
F
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Dating methodology (archaeology)
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Excavation
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Post excavation
Post-excavation analysis constitutes processes that are used to study archaeological materials after an excavation is completed. Since the advent of "New Archaeology" in the 1960s, the use of scientific techniques in archaeology has grown in impo ...
References
Methods in archaeology
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