What's this thing please?

[bergie]

What the heck is this? Sorry not the best focus. I found several of these in one location. It's a wood dowel about the size of a wine cork, but a little thicker. There's a lead "half ball" screwed into the top of it. This photo shows one complete item and one of the screw/lead ball apart from wood. Any thoughts appreciated. This was found along a creek where I found many musketballs where troops camped during the Rev. War, however, these items must be newer due to survival of wood and fact there were no screws like that in Rev. War.