According to the Thames Festival Trust, the “River Thames is the longest continuous archaeological site in Britain – the cumulative rubbish dump of thousands of years of habitation.”
Stretching for 18 kilometres on both sides of the river were docks, wharfs, warehouses, shipbuilding yards, ship-scrapping yards, fish markets, factories, breweries, slaughterhouses, municipal buildings, offices, pubs and houses. The river was home to thriving communities of watermen, lightermen, stevedores, dockworkers, sailors, merchants, fishermen, fishmongers, oyster wives, shipbuilders, ship-breakers and local mudlarks.
The objects found in the mud range from Neolithic flint tools to Roman detritus (coins, bottles, gaming pieces, colourful pottery and glassware), as well as relics of war (daggers, knives, chainmail), animal bones, human teeth, religious curios, children’s toys and yesteryear’s fashions, such as pins, jewels, buckles, buttons, cufflinks, wig…
