mudlarking
Thames shoreline foraging
Mudlarking is searching through river mud for objects of value or historical interest, especially along the banks of the Thames at low tide.
The practice dates to the 18th century, when the poor scavenged for anything sellable.
Today it's mostly recreational archaeology: She spent the morning mudlarking and found a Victorian clay pipe.
London's river
- riverbankLand bordering a stream
- tideOcean's cyclical swell
- estuaryTidal mixing zone
- mudflatsCoastal areas exposed at low tide
silt · sediment · flotsam · jetsam · shingle · water's edge · embankment · riparian
Searching shores for flotsam
- collectingGathering items over time
- foragingSeeking wild food sources
- scavengingGathering discarded or dead material
- amateurNonprofessional participant
recreation · pastime · permit · trowel · sifting · waders · gloves · searching
Fired-earth smoking vessels
- pottery shardsBroken ceramic fragments
- coinsMetal money units
- buttonsSmall disc fasteners
- pinsPointed sewing fasteners
bones · bottles · tokens · thimbles · buckles · nails · musket balls · oyster shells
England's capital city
- VictorianOf a prim era
- docklandsUrban port district
- povertySevere lack of resources
- urchinsScrappy street children
scavengers · industrial · trade · social history · Dickensian · waterfront · wharves · commerce
Study of rock layers
- contextCircumstances shaping meaning
- preservationMaintaining something's condition
- conservationPreventing waste or loss
- recordingCaptured audio or video
artifacts · dating · provenance · excavation · documentation · museum · cataloguing · analysis
Thames
London's river
mudflats · silt · sediment · flotsam · jetsam · shingle · water's edge · embankment · riparian · alluvium
beachcombing
Searching shores for flotsam
- collectingGathering items over time
- foragingSeeking wild food sources
- scavengingGathering discarded or dead material
amateur · recreation · pastime · permit · trowel · sifting · waders · gloves · searching · exploring
clay pipes
Fired-earth smoking vessels
- pottery shardsBroken ceramic fragments
- coinsMetal money units
- buttonsSmall disc fasteners
pins · bones · bottles · tokens · thimbles · buckles · nails · musket balls · oyster shells · shoe leather
London
England's capital city
urchins · scavengers · industrial · trade · social history · Dickensian · waterfront · wharves · commerce · shipping
stratigraphy
Study of rock layers
- contextCircumstances shaping meaning
- preservationMaintaining something's condition
- conservationPreventing waste or loss
recording · artifacts · dating · provenance · excavation · documentation · museum · cataloguing · analysis · fragile
- scavengingscavenging, rummage, foraging, forage, salvage
- Metal Detectingmetal detecting, metal detector, coil, discriminator, sensitivity
mudlarkingmetal detecting
Searching for buried objects electronically
beachcombing · cave exploring · mountaineering · mountain climbing · rock hounding
mudlarkingbuying
Obtaining through payment
purchasing · commissioning · manufacturing · crafting · inheriting
mudlarkingthrowing away
Discarding as refuse
discarding · disposing · dumping · junking · trashing
mud, muddy, lark, muddied, muddies, mudding, muddiness, muddily, mudlark