Iridescent glass

You can imagine how my eyes were drawn to these pieces of iridescent glass on the foreshore. They have a magnetic pull on the eye. However, it is likely that this glass did not begin life with this wonderful oil slick effect. Iridescence is caused by interference effects of light reflected from several layers of weathering products. What you end up with is a rainbow-like effect that changes according to the angle from which the glass is viewed, or the angle of incidence of the light source.

Mudlarking find: iridescent glass fragments

Mudlarking find: iridescent onion bottle neck

Horse teeth

Hi everyone, and welcome to my blog. I am a beginner mudlarker, and through these posts I’d like to share my journey as I learn about the history of London though my finds. I welcome constructive criticism but be nice! I hope also that this blog shall also help others with the identification of common finds on the Thames.

   If you’ve never been mudlarking along the Thames before, you may be surprised about the amount of bone and animal matter on the foreshore. It has accumulated over many centuries, and the Thames has acted as a refuge site for rubbish and the detritus of everyday life- animal waste being one of the by-products of human activity. There are many large bones around, I have even seen whole jaw bones with teeth attached. These photos are of horse teeth I have collected, they were very mysterious when I found them as they seemed so large.

Mudlarking find: Horse teeth