mrodoc
Well-known member
No pointers from here either: https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/news/no-longer-just-famine-food-and-the-fish-of-deathSeems to confirm what I thought.
How about thisIt's ridiculous how much I am enjoying this thread. It's the word 'treasure' and finding it....am a bit disappointed no one has posted a photo of a treasure chest full of gold coins they found underground 😁
Oysters yes but have you ever tried limpet?Oysters were food for the masses in times past
"Edible, formerly eaten extensively as shown by stone, bronze and ironage middens. Still eaten until relatively recently, especially during famine and hard times." - an unsuccessful shaft would mean they didn't have money to spare...Oysters yes but have you ever tried limpet?
Mr O'Doc in the pit searching for limpets and clams but he only came up with a small winkle.Not treasure but slightly puzzling. We are excavating around a mine on the Quantock Hills probably about 5 miles from the coast as the crow flies. We have just been digging a pit about 50 metres from the mine shaft below the engine house and about 2 m below the base have found much broken pottery and, rather more surprising, numerous small limpet shells. Now these are two a penny in coastal middens but strange to find them on top of a hill in a wood! Any thoughts? People do eat limpets although God knows why. They are a menu item in Portugal and parts of Spain! Did the former mine workers eat them I wonder. Thought they would be eating something more substantial. The function of the pit is a bit of a mystery as the base seems to be solid rock. We are wondering if it was a pond for storing water for the engine house boiler nearby. Perhaps I need to post this on the mining forum but it doesn't pigeon hole well does it?
A narrow paint scraper is the best thing to get limpets off a rock, But, you have to be quick otherwise the bloody things stick fast and even Mr 4 Pound Hammer won't detach them............"Edible, formerly eaten extensively as shown by stone, bronze and ironage middens. Still eaten until relatively recently, especially during famine and hard times." - an unsuccessful shaft would mean they didn't have money to spare...
You can flick them off with a fingernail, but as you say, once they clamp down, nothing will shift them.A narrow paint scraper is the best thing to get limpets off a rock, But, you have to be quick otherwise the bloody things stick fast and even Mr 4 Pound Hammer won't detach them............