It has been 29 years or so since I've been able to detect spot where there was military action during the Revolution. Once upon a time ago I dug the Brandywine Battlefield in PA, but the farm was sold and developed, and that folks was that. I have been in some sites the French, British and American troops visited, with some decent results since then, but not like this.
I was able to join another detectorist at a site he had just glazed over last year. It is a huge farm field in the middle of nowhere. I didn't have to go to Canada or Mexico, but let's just say it takes forever to drive there. All along what was then the "frontier" during both the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War, were small homesteads and settlements. Some are still there, some are ghost towns. We visited one of the areas we suspected where there were homesteads there in the Rev War period.
The regional history tells of Native Americans joining the British and the Tories who accomplished raids on many homesteads spread out over miles and miles and miles and miles of territory. We were hoping this particular farm, due to the regional history, held one of those long forgotten homesteads. We were not disappointed.
We looked at the hillocks to detect on, all not very far from a water source. The first site, on a small hillock produced half a pound of wadded up aluminum foil and of all things, two minie balls! Somebody was deer hunting after the Civil War from the looks of it.
The second hilltop turned up more aluminum foil (gotta wrap your lunch in something), and a spark plug! We finally moved to the last hilltop. That's when the fun began. My buddy was using the XP Deus with the big LF coil. I was using "Killer", it's nickname another XP Deus with the 9" elliptical HF coil.
The first signal out of the ground was a pewter spoon bowl! I moved a little farther on the ridge and got another nice signal. It was a large dandy button with a star on it. A few feet away was an identical button. I was listening for some iron, and dug an iron strap type pot hanger. The iron is coming out of the ground pristine, a sure sign the building was burned, that's the only way iron survives in this condition. These are hard to find. Then the real fun began.
In a small area I got a target about a foot down. Almost all the targets were deep. We were in a house site the Tories and Indians burned! History tells the tale for miles around the patriots in the area were either burned out of their homes, or even killed. And now we're standing in one of those house sites!
So the target...I get it out of the ground without dinging it. I immediately knew what it was. It is pictured first and is a Native American copper bangle, most likely part of that person's war badge or necklace. Because it is hand forged copper, I think it could easily be copper from the midwest. There was a lot of trading between the native tribes back then, although we are a long, long away from there. It is slightly bigger than a US silver dollar and the two notches at 11 o'clock and 2 o'clock are deliberate and hand made. That is probably where they wrapped the twine to add it to the rest of the necklace.
View attachment IMG_0957.jpg I am not going to clean it. I moved three feet and found another, however bent of handmade copper bangle. View attachment IMG_0958.jpg Again, I am not going to try to clean or straighten it. These things are not just junk brass. These were most likely ripped from the Indian's neck in a fight. The natives treasured these things and would leave them behind. Two feet away I found a true unique treasure! It is a copper trade button, note the geometric designs on it. But wait, there's more! This button, as can be seen from the back was fashioned into something else. A small piece of rolled up lead was jammed into the shank, still present and deliberately bent over and under magnification I can STILL SEE SOME OF THE THREAD under the lead. This piece would be used as an ornamental dangle, not as a button! I have never even seen one of these. So this warrior lost three pieces of his wardrobe right there. I will bet there was some bloodshed over that! Moving on, and in circles, we dug a piece of pig iron, another pot hook, knife blade, piece of a redware jug, flat brass buttons, pieces to pewter spoons or flatware, two of the prettiest tombac buttons I have ever seen, American cast pewter buttons, and some gorgeous rose head nails.
View attachment IMG_0938.jpg View attachment IMG_0939.jpg View attachment IMG_0941.jpg View attachment IMG_0943.jpg View attachment IMG_0944.jpg View attachment IMG_0950.jpg
View attachment IMG_0948.jpg
View attachment IMG_0953.jpg
The last four pictures are the special trade button with the lead through the shank and thread. Zoom in to see the colonial thread!
The wildlife also visited us in the form of Mallard ducks, turkeys and two coyotes! Those coyotes were huge!
And two ducks.
I was able to join another detectorist at a site he had just glazed over last year. It is a huge farm field in the middle of nowhere. I didn't have to go to Canada or Mexico, but let's just say it takes forever to drive there. All along what was then the "frontier" during both the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War, were small homesteads and settlements. Some are still there, some are ghost towns. We visited one of the areas we suspected where there were homesteads there in the Rev War period.
The regional history tells of Native Americans joining the British and the Tories who accomplished raids on many homesteads spread out over miles and miles and miles and miles of territory. We were hoping this particular farm, due to the regional history, held one of those long forgotten homesteads. We were not disappointed.
We looked at the hillocks to detect on, all not very far from a water source. The first site, on a small hillock produced half a pound of wadded up aluminum foil and of all things, two minie balls! Somebody was deer hunting after the Civil War from the looks of it.
The second hilltop turned up more aluminum foil (gotta wrap your lunch in something), and a spark plug! We finally moved to the last hilltop. That's when the fun began. My buddy was using the XP Deus with the big LF coil. I was using "Killer", it's nickname another XP Deus with the 9" elliptical HF coil.
The first signal out of the ground was a pewter spoon bowl! I moved a little farther on the ridge and got another nice signal. It was a large dandy button with a star on it. A few feet away was an identical button. I was listening for some iron, and dug an iron strap type pot hanger. The iron is coming out of the ground pristine, a sure sign the building was burned, that's the only way iron survives in this condition. These are hard to find. Then the real fun began.
In a small area I got a target about a foot down. Almost all the targets were deep. We were in a house site the Tories and Indians burned! History tells the tale for miles around the patriots in the area were either burned out of their homes, or even killed. And now we're standing in one of those house sites!
So the target...I get it out of the ground without dinging it. I immediately knew what it was. It is pictured first and is a Native American copper bangle, most likely part of that person's war badge or necklace. Because it is hand forged copper, I think it could easily be copper from the midwest. There was a lot of trading between the native tribes back then, although we are a long, long away from there. It is slightly bigger than a US silver dollar and the two notches at 11 o'clock and 2 o'clock are deliberate and hand made. That is probably where they wrapped the twine to add it to the rest of the necklace.
View attachment IMG_0957.jpg I am not going to clean it. I moved three feet and found another, however bent of handmade copper bangle. View attachment IMG_0958.jpg Again, I am not going to try to clean or straighten it. These things are not just junk brass. These were most likely ripped from the Indian's neck in a fight. The natives treasured these things and would leave them behind. Two feet away I found a true unique treasure! It is a copper trade button, note the geometric designs on it. But wait, there's more! This button, as can be seen from the back was fashioned into something else. A small piece of rolled up lead was jammed into the shank, still present and deliberately bent over and under magnification I can STILL SEE SOME OF THE THREAD under the lead. This piece would be used as an ornamental dangle, not as a button! I have never even seen one of these. So this warrior lost three pieces of his wardrobe right there. I will bet there was some bloodshed over that! Moving on, and in circles, we dug a piece of pig iron, another pot hook, knife blade, piece of a redware jug, flat brass buttons, pieces to pewter spoons or flatware, two of the prettiest tombac buttons I have ever seen, American cast pewter buttons, and some gorgeous rose head nails.
View attachment IMG_0938.jpg View attachment IMG_0939.jpg View attachment IMG_0941.jpg View attachment IMG_0943.jpg View attachment IMG_0944.jpg View attachment IMG_0950.jpg
View attachment IMG_0948.jpg
View attachment IMG_0953.jpg
The last four pictures are the special trade button with the lead through the shank and thread. Zoom in to see the colonial thread!
The wildlife also visited us in the form of Mallard ducks, turkeys and two coyotes! Those coyotes were huge!
And two ducks.
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I even found one in my front lawn, at my property 80 miles away in another county, at a friend's house, at another friend's house, Brandywine Battlefield, at a local park, at a Colonial homesite on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Gotta laugh. Those guys coming back from the CW must have taken their muskets home with them for some serious deer hunting.
