I have been given the song line twelve Drummers, drumming or as I prefer to call them, twelve Membranophonists membranophoning. I was given the task of finding something from our finds department that related to drums and drumming; not an easy task I add. I had to ask the wonderful Yvonne for help, to no avail (when I hadn’t given her any guidance other than drum please!).

I however managed to rouse myself from the torpor of defeat, I rallied and armed with a mug of tea I embarked upon something that I have often considered to be my last resort; I turned to research.

It turns out, according to the History of Drums and Drum making, (No good research should go uncredited, and this research was an epic four minutes) That drums in prehistory were made of fish or lizard skin stretched over logs or pits in the ground, later domesticated animal skins were used with the first Frame Drum appearing in the Middle East some five thousand years ago,
The use of the drum in Britain was introduced by the Romans and largely fell out of use again when they left.

Drums were once again re introduced into the country when the Crusaders brought them back from the Middle East and they have been here ever since.

So armed with this information, I would dearly like to show you a picture of some lizard bone, but I refuse to ask for help twice in a day, so here is a picture of a piece of long dead fish.

Feature image recreated from Xavier Romero-Frias https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:XRF_12days.jpg under CC license

Our lordly offering is this crest found on a piece of ceramic. Heraldry is a broad term encompassing the design, display, and study of armoury. The right to bear arms, or be allowed to display a coat of arms was a recognition of rank or status. Only those with ancestral rights or a grant made by the crown. Therefore the display of a crest like this could be seen as a display of power and authority.

Feature image recreated from Xavier Romero-Frias https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:XRF_12days.jpg under CC license

From the simplest of leather sandal to the highly elaborate heeled boot of the 18th century, shoes are an artefact archaeologists seem to enjoy finding. Somehow they bring the human element of the past back to the forefront. The earliest examples of shoes in the UK are from the Bronze Age when broad strips of leather were laced together; few have been found so styles and fashions are uncertain but they appear to be mostly functional. The sandal developed into the well-recognised Roman hobnailed caligae and eventually the closed shoe came into fashion. In the medieval period (and the Discworlds Unseen University) shoes were a sign of status with the pointier the toe the higher the status. Most people had leather shoes, they were functional and mass produced.

This example is from Grimsby and is early-mid Medieval it appears unused as there is no sign of wear on the base and all the stitching holes are complete. It is quite clearly a right shoe and about a size 5 ½ .

Eight Maids a-Milking is fairly self-explanatory in this case, we have a cows skull!

Feature image recreated from Xavier Romero-Frias https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:XRF_12days.jpg under CC license

Swans have represented beauty, romance and elegance for a very long time. Earlier representations of river birds, (such as this Romano-British Nene Valley colour coated ware) may not have captured them in their regal integrity but it does indicate a common fascination with putting them on pots. Whether it’s Emma Bridgewater or Roman pottery imported from Peterborough to Lincolnshire in the 3rd to 4th centuries.

Feature image recreated from Xavier Romero-Frias https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:XRF_12days.jpg under CC license

Images of human remains feature in this post

Six Geece a_Laying stand for the six days of creation in Genesis. On the sixth day he made all the creatures on dry land including Adam, the first man. From Adam’s rib he crafted Eve and therefore our sixth day is represented by a human rib.

Feature image recreated from Xavier Romero-Frias https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:XRF_12days.jpg under CC license

Gold jewellery has been present in the archaeological record since about 4000 BC, but we are unfortunately short of golden rings in our stores. I did find a carved glass bead once inset into a ring and who knows it could have been gold.

Instead we have gone for an Intaglios; an engraving carved onto a flat surface, often mounted onto a ring. Intaglios start in the 7th century BC in the near east but our example is Romano British and depicts a female figure raising a spear in the air. Originally they were a sign of status and made of semi-precious stones such as jasper or amber. They were both decorative and functional being used to impress a seal into liquid wax. Like many prestige items the general population caught onto the fashion and began to reproduce them in more affordable materials. This style eventually developed into the cameo so popular with the Victorians, where a portrait was carved in relief instead of inset showing the change in use from functional to decorative.

Feature image recreated from Xavier Romero-Frias https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivo:XRF_12days.jpg under CC license