Unusual marble from Panama Canal Zone- 1977

[goldkey]

I was going through some old boxes of things I had collected over the years. I started detecting when I was about 14 or 15....so my eyes and ears were always open for treasure wherever I might be. In 1977 I was in the 82nd Airborne Division, Ft. Bragg. This was the same year that President Carter was signing over the Panama Canal back to the country of Panama. As a security measure our unit was part of the troops that were sent to Panama to coincide with the occasion of the Panama Canal Treaty. While we were there, we went through a program of Jungle Warfare Training. One of the guides that was assigned to us, to guide us through the jungle and train us made a special point to tell us that there were many lost civilizations in the jungles of Panama, and that we should always be on the lookout for any unusual or interesting objects we may find as we went through many of the different parts of the jungle. I talked with him personally about what he had told us, and understood that he was on the lookout for any treasures he could find while in the jungle. As time went on and we were enduring the jungle and it's many fascinations, I always kept my eye on the ground when possible looking for anything. One day I looked down and I saw part of a glass ball in the ground and knew that perhaps it was a marble. I pulled it from the dirt, and that's what it was. At first I thought perhaps it was just an ordinary marble. But then I noticed a particular design on it. I knew it was probably hand made as there are many bubbles in the glass. I have never been able to find out anything about it, or the design on it either. The design looks to be hand engraved on it, when it was probably still soft hot glass.

The first picture is of the parachute jump we made into Panama. The design on the marble is hard to get a good picture of because of the reflection, so I did a drawing of it to show more of the detail. If anyone has any insight on this it would be appreciated. The design to me looks like a bull with a horn and long tail.
I had put this marble away years ago and had forgotten about it until I found it again in some of my old storage boxes.







Drawing of design on marble:



Update - I traced the design using CorelDraw

 

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[bottles10]

I would say it is not a design on the marble but just the way it turned out being rolled. My guess is an industriel type marble as in paint can.

 

[goldkey]

I would say it is not a design on the marble but just the way it turned out being rolled. My guess is an industriel type marble as in paint can.

I would say the possibility of the design appearing by accident would be improbable. There are no other markings on the marble but this design. For it to be found in the remote regions of the Panamanian jungle would also imply that it has some age to it. I found it in 1977. The design is specifically grooved into the marble when it was made. But thank you for your hypothesis.

 

[cheese]

It's an industrial marble. The marks are cold rolls. These were shipped by boat and train and lost along the tracks. They were mass produced and crudely made because they were only a means to ship glass. Just like plastic is often shipped in beads, so was glass. Beads, or marbles, usually to be extruded into fiberglass. The design is purely coincidence. Sorry.

 

[perdidogringo]

Cool story, Goldkey! Did you happen to find anything else during your time in Panama? I lived there for a while and loved to hike the old Spanish trails.

 

[cheese]

That's a lotta parachutes! Looks like jellyfish in the ocean!