These are some of the pewter plates found on the Mary Rose.

Pewter is a mixture of tin and lead, and looks like silver when it is polished.

The officers and men on the Mary Rose came from very different backgrounds.

Most of the officers came from rich families, and they were used to eating off gold and silver plates.

They didn't usually take their best sets of plates on board ship, they took sets of pewter plates and drank their wine and beer from pewter tankards.