Archaeologists uncover rare finds at Plymouth dig

They've been working at the city's first Navy supply yard, Commercial Wharf

The glass bead uncovered in the work at Commercial Wharf
Author: Simon McleanPublished 20th Jan 2022

Archaeologists conducting a dig at Plymouth's first Navy supply yard have revealed some of their finds so far.

Half of a rare seventeeth century glass bead from Venice, Italian ceramics and Ming porcelain fragments have all been uncovered at Commecial Wharf.

The dig was launched after conservation work on the quay wall found some important 17th century material.

They say the star find so far is one half of a glass bead, pictured above, which is believed to have been made on the island of Murano in Venice lagoon.

Also known as a Chevron or Rosetta bead, complete 17th century examples can be found in museums around the world such as the Corning Museum of Glass in New York.

Other finds include a range of different pottery and ceramics, as well as clay pipes, butchered animal bones, oysters, cockles and a fish vertebrae, probably from a cod.

English and continental ceramics uncovered at the dig

University of Plymouth maritime archaeologist Martin Read, chairman of the Plymouth Archaeology Society, has been directing the work.

He said: “The finds we have uncovered over the past week have given us a fantastic insight into life in Plymouth during the 17th century.

Two seventeenth century fragments from Holland

"They reflect the triangular fishing trade between Plymouth, Newfoundland and continental Europe, which saw thousands of fishermen each year sailing to Newfoundland in the spring and salting the cod they caught on the Grand Banks (& in New England).

"Some of these vessels would then journey to Iberia and/or the Mediterranean at the end of summer, from where they always brought back cargoes of fine tableware to sell in Plymouth.”

Commercial Wharf was used for nearly 200 years to supply the Navy with bread, biscuits and beef until those operations moved to Royal William Yard in the 19th century.

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