Finds from buildings can be divided into three categories
- Items left in buildings because they were lost, forgotten or unwanted.
- Items deliberately deposited in a building. This deposit being thought to confer protection to the building or its inhabitants.
- Marks deliberately made in the fabric of the building during its period of use. These might be:
- Marks with a practical use. e.g. scratch dials/ mass dials
- Marks thought to have some supernatural influence; these were often seen as protecting the building.
An example in category 3. is a dog-handled ‘folk art’ walking stick.