Publisher's description and from the back cover:
Knives were vital to medieval man for a whole range of uses, from the domestic to the wider social context: Anglo-Saxon pre-Christian burials bear silent witness to this dependence in the many cases where knives are found among the grave-goods. Forged and hafted with great skill, sometimes with elaborately decorated scabbards, knives are of intrinsic fascination, besides being indicators of the popular artistic tastes of the time.
This book catalogues, discusses and illustrates over five hundred knives, scabbards, shears and scissors dating from the mid-12th to the mid-15th centuries and found in the City of London, particularly along the waterfront sites, where recovered items can be accurately dated by dendrochronology and coin finds. It is a fundamental work of reference for medieval artefacts and material culture, an essential handbook for excavators all over Britain and much of Europe.

Contents:
page VI Acknowledgments
VII Foreword
IX Introduction to the second edition
XI Introduction
1 Dating
8 Manufacturing techniques
8 THE KNIVES, SHEARS, SCISSORS AND FOLDING KNIVES
8 Blades
8 Forging
15 Decoration
17 Marks
25 Knife handles
32 DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE
34 SCABBARDS
40 The decoration of medieval scabbards
45 A note on the heraldic decoration of the scabbards
45 THE ORDINARY
47 DISCUSSION
50 THE ROLLS OF ARMS CONSULTED
51 The use of knives, shears, scissors and scabbards
62 Appendix: Metallographic examination of the medieval knives and shears
63 METHOD OF EXAMINATION
75 Bibliography
78 The Catalogue
169 Addenda