File:Pipe tamper (FindID 59591).jpg

English: A Post-Medieval copper-alloy claw-hammer shaped pipe tamper. The tamper is literally hammer shaped. It consists of a hammerhead, the claw and the hammer shaft. This tamper was probably designed to be a novelty item. The hammerhead is made up of six concentric ribs which decrease in size the closer they are to the shaft (this part measures 17.5mm in length). The hammerhead itself is flat. The claw is not decorated; one of the claws has been bent over the other one (this part measures 19.7mm). The head of the hammer is further decorated on both of the flat surfaces (between the hammerhead and the claws) with three concentric rings. The shaft is hollow and is also decorated with a concentric circle design (which could relate to the fact that the shaft is threaded). There is a hole on the top of the hammerhead (which also shows the threading extending down the shaft). The shaft is broken; the breaks do not look recent. Furthermore, there is a hole in the shaft (on the same side as the claw) 9.56mm below where the hammerhead is attached to the shaft. The metal has gone a dark brownish-green. The length measurement (given below) relates to the length of the entire artefact, from the top of the hammerhead to the break in the shaft. The width measurement (given below) relates to the measurement across the top of the hammerhead, from the tip of the striking part of the hammer to the tip of the claw. The thickness measurement relates to the thickest part of the hammerhead.