Finds Identified, available from www.greenlightpublishing.co.uk priced £30.
It’s taken me a few weeks to get through over 350 pages of this book, not because of time just that every page has you captivated by its incredible detail.
It starts off with an overview of the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) and gives even the more knowledgeable of reader information that you probably will not know. It also includes some interesting information about the ages of our great land from the Bronze Age to Post medieval, including maps of the UK showing where funds have come up for each period.
Straight after that introduction we find ourselves immersed in dress fittings and that’s when the fun starts. The pictures in this book are so detailed and the print quality is of the highest standard. The pictures of the book I’ve included with this write up do not do it justice. The pictures are almost tactile and you almost want to try and pick the object up. From Roman brooches to early Anglo-Saxon metalwork it’s a plethora of finds to feast your eyes on.
We then move on to chapters on Ornaments, Personal Care, Religion and Belief, Literacy and Learning, Domestic Life and then into one of my favourite chapter called Tools and Manufacture. There are arrowheads, axes from all periods, hand tools just name it and it’s there.
I mentioned earlier about how good the photographs are but with each picture comes a description of what it is and where it was found, it also gives you the PAS reference so you can look into the object further.
The remaining chapters are Trade and Commerce, Horses and Transport and finally Warfare and Hunting. The book is then completed with where to find out more.
I can honestly say that this is a must for anyone interested in our hobby. Kevin Leahy and Michael Lewis have excelled themselves with what can only be described as an outstanding reference book. It will keep you entertained for hours on them wet winters days that your daydreaming of being out in a field.
Graeme Stokes