Dr Helen Wickstead is leading a campaign to save thousands of pieces of history that cannot find a home in museums.
She’s formed Recycle Archaeology, an action group aiming to create social and educational uses for these pieces.
Many of the finds, known as de-selected materials, end up reburied or in skips or landfill.
More than 12,000 artefacts, from excavations in south west London, have been saved over the years.
This includes 6,000-year-old stone tools, tankards, apothecary bottles, coins, military medals and even animal bone.