I realize that it is no longer archaeologically PC to talk about 'finds' – we all know that archaeology is no longer about finding things, but despite everything archaeologists still do find things, and they have to be coped with, and that means they have to be written about. And that means that, happily, there are several new cracking good books about 'finds' only thinly disguised by their titles.

Material Culture in London in an Age of Transition by Geoff Egan is the latest MoLAS book on Tudor and Stuart finds from excavations at riverside sites in Southwark. Here you will find a full array of sixteenth and seventeenth metal, bone, leather and wood objects, hundreds of them. Illustrated in photos or drawings and mostly described by that master of material Geoff Egan. The highlight – by its rarity and completeness – is a sixteenth century saddle, but there are hosts of other interesting items reflecting the age of transition from medieval to modern: bits of firearms, knives, spoons, thimbles, badges, tokens ... you name it, it’s here...and so it the book. At 256 pages it is a snip at only £17.95.

Before the Mast: Life and Death aboard the Mary Rose edited by Julie Gardiner with Michael J Allen is a massive book reporting on the objects reflecting daily 'life' aboard the Mary Rose when she sank in 1545. These range from clothing to utensils to tools to personal objects of devotion, amusement, entertainment … and, of course they were all waterlogged, so the preservation of organic material is good. There are also the accoutrements of all sorts of special people: the tools of the carpenters, the equipment of the navigator, and the chest of equipment of the barber-surgeon. (Why were barbers surgeons, or surgeons barbers? Isn't it time we reconsidered the this aspect of this one? Would the poor guy who got squashed at Avebury really have been happy on the Mary Rose?). The 'death' aspect of the title is the study of human remains and what they have to reveal about the people and their habits. This is a massive book – over 750 pages – and pcked with drawings and photos, some in colour. Another snip at only £49.99!

If you want one of these books you are sure to want the other one too, so why not buy them both at once. Here’s the deal … buy BOTH now, before the end of January 2006, for a bargain price of only £55!

And if you haven’t yet got it why not complete your 'age of transition finds' library with a copy of Nonsuch Palace: The Material Culture of a Noble Restoration Household by Martin Biddle. This huge volume provides a detailed record and discussion of the 'finds' from the post-Henry VIII re-occupation of the palace in the 1680s. There are large sections on pottery and glass, both including very fine wares, and glass bottles, and small finds. Normally £60.00 but available for only £40 until the end of Jan 2006.

Three massive books for less than a £100! How's that for a material transition in this age of culture?

David Brown

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