| | 
** NEW APRIL 2026 - NOW IN STOCK **
METAL DETECTING FINDS - BUTTONS
Metal Detecting Finds: Buttons by Brian Read is the definitive reference guide to identifying metal buttons and button-like objects discovered by metal detectorists, archaeologists, mudlarks and collectors. Covering over 4,000 years of history, from 2150 BC to AD 1900, this beautifully illustrated hardback explains the development, manufacture, dating and use of buttons, button-and-loop fasteners, toggles, cufflinks, studs and other early dress fastenings.
Featuring hundreds of colour photographs and detailed line drawings, the book makes it easier to identify metal detecting finds accurately and understand their historical significance. Whether you've uncovered a medieval button in a ploughed field, a Roman dress fastening or a Victorian military button, this comprehensive guide provides expert information to help identify and date your discoveries.
Written by leading artefact specialist Brian Read, this essential reference book will prove invaluable for metal detectorists, archaeologists, mudlarks, dress historians, museums and anyone with an interest in the history of clothing, personal adornment and archaeological finds.
By Brian Read | Greenlight Publishing (2026)
5 out of 5 ⭐️ on Amazon
ISBN: 9781897738986
A4 softback, 238 pages, 1,400+ photographs and line drawings
|
| | |  4.5 out of 5 ⭐️ on Amazon
"Clay is an exceptionally versatile material. It can be made into many useful and beautiful objects, decorated in a splendid variety of ways and, if exposed to high temperatures, made into pottery. Both rich and poor have used pottery since the Stone Age, so the way the craft developed gives unusually clear insights into intimate details of lifestyle and outlooks in even remote periods.”
Pottery in Britain, a guide to identifying pot sherds, by Lloyd Laing, aims to provide an introductory guide to identifying some of the basic types of pottery that may be found and contains 178 illustrations, mainly in colour, divided into the following sections:
The potter’s craft
The study of pottery
Prehistoric pottery- the Neolithic Period circa 4000-2000BC
The Bronze Age circa 2000- 700BC
The Iron Age circa 700/ 600BCAD43
The Roman Period AD43 - circ AD409
The Dark Ages & Early Medieval Period
The Medieval Period - 11th-15th Centuries ? The 16th & 17th Centuries
The 18th & 19th Centuries
Glossary of terminology.
250mm x 190mm, 136 pages, ISBN
1 897738 145 |
| | | 
Metal Sewing Thimbles Found in Britain – by Brian Read
5 out of 5 ⭐️ on Amazon
(1st Published 2018 by Archeopress)
This is the first reference book that deals specifically with all types of sewing-thimble found in Britain, made from copper-alloy or silver, or either of these metals combined with iron or steel; also included is a seemingly rare gold specimen. Domed, ring-type and open-top (here the latter classed as a new type) sewing-thimbles are described, among them unusual examples and others previously absent from the known record. From Britain the earliest reliable dating for these humble yet fascinating tools is between c.1270 - c.1350, and continues through the medieval and early post-medieval period and into the 18th and 19th centuries.
Hundreds of colour photographs and archaeological drawings.
118 pages, A4, softback, £21.95
|
| | | 
A4 HARDBACK - ONLY £26.95
IDENTIFYING DETECTOR FINDS by Brian Read
4.8 out of 5 ⭐️ on Amazon
This fantastic A4 Hardback book is a must have for anyone trying to identify metal detecting finds.
With 320 pages packed with over 1,700 artefacts, all beautifully hand drawn and fully described including find locations, there has never been an easier way to identify your finds.
Most of the artefacts illustrated in this book have been recorded by the author since 1995, the majority previously unpublished.
Contents include: Mounts • Horse Harness fittings • Religious Objects • Axes, Spears, Knives & Daggers • Tools & Instruments • Vessels and Receptacles • Jewellery and Fasteners • Personal Objects • Weights • Keys & Padlocks • Militaria • Miscellaneous
A4 Hardback, 320 pages
|
| | | 
Formerly published as "Metal Artefacts of Antiquity”, now re-printed as a great aid to identification and dating of metal detecting finds.
4.8 out of 5 ⭐️ on Amazon
This is a well-researched and illustrated title from Brian Read and contains hundreds of archaeological quality line drawing, allowing the reader to identify their finds with ease. The book covers such items as: Mounts - Pendant Suspension Mounts and Pendants - Strap Distributors - Terrets - Spurs and Spur Fittings - Horses' Bit - Keys and Locks - Seal-Boxes - Seal Matrices - Daggers and Knives and their Fittings - Sword Fittings - Spear - Tools - Spoons - Brooches - Weights and Weighing Apparatus - Candleholders - Lamp Suspenders and Lanterns - Purse Bars and Pendent Frames -Lead Tokens.
A4, 144 pages, over 950 archaeological quality illustrations. Foreword by Geoff Egan.
|
| | |  Detector Finds 7 – the latest book in the best selling series from Greenlight Publishing.
Written by Gordon Bailey and the team at Treasure Hunting magazine, Detector Finds 7 contains Over 500 Line Drawings and 200 Photographic Illustrations of never seen before artefacts, to help you identify your metal detector finds.
These are the topics included:
Pendants - Open-Type Bells - Napoleonic Military Items - Buckle Plates - Belt Chapes - Medieval Gilded Studs - Non-Heraldic Bells - Lead Weights
Includes price guide.
A4, 128 pages, £16.50 |
|
|
