Single ended pick made from iron with a wooden handle. It was found in the upper main coal seam of the former Smoile wood area of the Coleorton site.
The main working tool of the medieval miner was the single-ended pick. Picks were used to undercut the coal before it was hewed down off the coalface using hammers and wooden wedges.
Several of the pick heads found had marks stamped into them, possibly to identify the maker or owner. Since picks were regularly sent to the smithy for sharpening, a mark of ownership would have been useful.
