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@Dropout introduced us to mudlarking a long time ago. When we lived by the river we went several times per week.

Our best find was a bone wax tablet stylus. Photo attached. One end has a small hole for a piece of wire and the rounded end is for rubbing out mistakes.

Not our identification, we sent it to Museum of London and they confirmed what it was. They couldn't date it but obviously was from a time before widespread use of paper and pencils. They said they are a relatively common find. Their theory is that people stocktaking as cargo was loaded and unloaded occasionally dropped their stylii into the river by accident.

We also found a few at beads. The MoL said they could be anything from 500 to 1500 years old. Virtually impossible to date.

My personal favourites are the industrial finds we made. Things like bits of medieval shoe and leather offcuts around the old tannery district at London bridge and waste glass chunks next to Blackfriars bridge where an early glass bottle factory was located.

There's also a shit load of 1940s rifle ammunition in the river at Greenwich although probably best if I don't say exactly where.

You know The Anchor And Hope pub by the Thames near Borough Market? The pub off Mission Impossible at the end? Outside there is a ladder down to the foreshore right by the pub tables and you can clamber over the wall and climb down and pick up clay pipes from 300 years ago.