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1971.30.5.5

One of 23 copper alloy medallions (for excavations) [.3 - .25]. [FB 10/04/2014]

On display

1971.30.5.5

Digital asset copyright: Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford

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Collection type
Object
Description
One of 23 copper alloy medallions (for excavations) [.3 - .25]. [FB 10/04/2014]
Long description
The copper alloy medallion shows on one side a pick, a theodolite, a stone battle-axe head, a bronze halberd, a skull and a vase, on the other "Opened by A. Pitt Rivers FRS" with a space below for the date to be stamped on it. The medallion is a flat disc. [FB 10/04/2014]
Cultural groups
English
Date / Period
Date made: 1800-1900
Date collected
By 1971
Acquisition information
Loaned: 1971
Materials and processes
Material Copper Alloy Metal, Process Forged (Metal), Process Stamped
Dimensions
Diameter: max 38 mm, Height: max 3 mm
Object numbers
Accession number: 1971.30.5.5
Research and responses

Wesley Jacobs, Helen Jacobs from the Bullpen, Steve Hurst, sculptor and foundry owner and Daniel Hunt from Kansas State University undertook a research visit on Tuesday 18 October 2011. The following comments were recorded about this object: The medallions look like they are made of copper. Copper is a soft metal to stamp. They may be copper alloy but adding any metal to copper will make it harder. [MJD 24/10/2011]

Associated publications
See 'Tiles Can Tell Tales Centuries Later', by Alan Ferg, in The Petroglyph: Newsletter of the Arizona Archaeological Society, Vol. XXXIX, no. 8 (April 2003), pp. 1, 3; 'Tiles to Identify Previous Excavations', by Alan Ferg, in Arizona Archaelogical Council Newsletter, Vol. XXVII, no. 1 (spring 2003), pp. 11-12; and 'Testing Tile Technology', by Alan Ferg, in Glyphs: The Monthly Newsletter of the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society, Vol. LIV, no. 2 (August 2003), pp. 4-5. In each case Ferg provies a brief account of the medallions. In the latter two, he illustrates one. Copies of all three articles and related correspondence in RDF. [JC 12 9 2003] Illustrated in colour as Figure 11.12 on page 255 of 'Later Prehistoric and Roman Europe', by Joshua Pollard and Dan Hicks, in World Archaeology at the Pitt Rivers Museum: A Characterization, edited by Dan Hicks and Alice Stevenson (Oxford: Archaeopress, 2013), pp. 240-261. Caption (same page): 'Figure 11.12 Unused example of General Pitt-Rivers' 'medalets', which he had specifically crafted for date-stamping and placement in his excavation trenches before back-filling (PRM Accession Number 1971.30.5).'. [MJD 24/06/2014]

Search terms: Insignia, Tool, Medal, Stamp

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