Chalk carved figure from Bishopsgate, London

Chalk fragment carved in the form of a crucifix (or possibly a human figure with arms outstretched). Pitt Rivers Museum Accession Number 1884.58.54 

The Excavating Pitt-Rivers team completed the uploading of the photographs of the newly-documented archaeological objects from England, excavated or collected by General Pitt-Rivers, to the Museum database last week. This has enormously enhanced the documentation of the collection, and allows us to share images of the objects much more widely. We'll be posting a series of the documentation photographs of the more unusual objects on this blog in the coming weeks.  

Here is the first in this new series: a fragment of chalk carved in the form of a human figure: a crucifix, or possibly a figure with arms outstretched. It was found at Bull Yard, of Dunnings Alley on Bishopsgate in the City of London (EC2) on 16 November 1865. The Museum's accession book describes it as "Rough chalk carving of a crucified figure (no cross) on a block". 

We hope to be able to commission new professional photography for some of these objects through future projects. The object is now on display in the Court of the Pitt Rivers Museum.

Reverse of carved chalk fragment 1884.58.54

This is one of the earliest objects from early salvage or 'rescue' archaeology undertaken by Pitt-Rivers in London. It is unclear at present whether this is a 19th-century forgery made  for sale to Pitt-Rivers, or whether it is medieval in date.