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Date: |
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Description: | A slightly broken, cast, copper alloy two point tag from a surveyor's, or Gunter's, chain, probably of Post Medieval or Modern date (1620 - 1870). The tag is flat with a broken suspension loop at the top, this has probably broken through excessive wear. The section below the loop is oval in plan and has a 'V' shaped cut-out which forms two pointed teeth that face downwards. The object has a deep grey/ green patina. The record for a similar object - BUC-EED724 - states that the surveying chain was first recorded by Edmund Gunter in 1579 and the examples such as these would not have pre-dated 1620. The surveying chain was marked at every 10 links by tags or tallies; at 10 links a single pointed tag, at 20 links a double pointed tag and so forth. These chains were based on an ancient measure of the breadth of a furrow or plough strip. A chain composed of 100 links is 66 feet, the exact measure between the stumps of a cricket pitch and it was also used to measure this. The invention of the steel tape in 1867 brought this method of measuring to a gradual close. For other similar examples see KENT-31E9F4, LANCUM-2DAF93, LANCUM-E57545 and SUSS-402DE5.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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