Valley Ranger
Silver Member
- Mar 24, 2011
- 2,515
- 1,368
- 🏆 Honorable Mentions:
- 1
- Detector(s) used
- Minelab Equinox 800, Garrett AT Pro (2), Makro Racer 2, Garrett AT Pinpointer (2)
- Primary Interest:
- Relic Hunting
I recently gained access to a piece of property I've wanted to detect for several years. The property recently changed hands and doors opened. It's an old farm here in the Shenandoah Valley that dates to the early 1800's - over 500 acres. A Confederate veteran lived there and oral history says the place was raided by Union soldiers during the War Between the States.
I've hunted the area around the main house (circa 1830) for about 3 hours and found absolutely nothing worth keeping. I suspect it's been hunted hard in previous years. Then the other day I was back hunting one of the surrounding cornfields and the overseer stopped by for a visit. After I told him I wasn't finding much besides junk, he said, "You should go up on the hill and hunt around the old family cemetery." I must have looked surprised and disgusted all at the same time, because he very quickly added, "Oh, no, no, I don't mean IN the cemetery, just AROUND it. It's fenced in."
So I headed to the location, about a half mile from the main home. The family cemetery has many of the characteristics one so often sees in Southern Appalachia areas of the U.S.: at the top of a hill, behind the main home, Yucca plants, headstones all facing east. The earliest death date I could make out was 1822, though I believe there were older graves there. The cemetery was in deplorable condition. The yucca plants have all but taken over the whole area (about 24'x40'), groundhogs have wreaked havoc, headstones are broken and others fallen over. Also, the ground had evidently suffered significant erosion as the burial area sat about 18" above the surrounding pasture, exposing the very base of the fence posts.
The surrounding grass was pretty high, making it difficult to swing my coil close to the ground. And, again, I want to be clear that I only detected OUTSIDE the fenced burial area. Darkness was approaching fast, so everything I found I just stuffed into my bag without really looking at it until I got home. Most of what I found consisted of nails and cow tags - except for what you see below. I believe these are hardware pieces from a coffin. I found all of them about 2 feet off of the northeast corner of the cemetery. They seem to be made out of some type of "pot metal."
The overseer told me that he and the new owner plan to clean and restore the old cemetery. I'm thinking I should return these pieces at that time. Thoughts? Anyone seen anything like this before? Any idea on age? Thanks for looking.
I've hunted the area around the main house (circa 1830) for about 3 hours and found absolutely nothing worth keeping. I suspect it's been hunted hard in previous years. Then the other day I was back hunting one of the surrounding cornfields and the overseer stopped by for a visit. After I told him I wasn't finding much besides junk, he said, "You should go up on the hill and hunt around the old family cemetery." I must have looked surprised and disgusted all at the same time, because he very quickly added, "Oh, no, no, I don't mean IN the cemetery, just AROUND it. It's fenced in."
So I headed to the location, about a half mile from the main home. The family cemetery has many of the characteristics one so often sees in Southern Appalachia areas of the U.S.: at the top of a hill, behind the main home, Yucca plants, headstones all facing east. The earliest death date I could make out was 1822, though I believe there were older graves there. The cemetery was in deplorable condition. The yucca plants have all but taken over the whole area (about 24'x40'), groundhogs have wreaked havoc, headstones are broken and others fallen over. Also, the ground had evidently suffered significant erosion as the burial area sat about 18" above the surrounding pasture, exposing the very base of the fence posts.
The surrounding grass was pretty high, making it difficult to swing my coil close to the ground. And, again, I want to be clear that I only detected OUTSIDE the fenced burial area. Darkness was approaching fast, so everything I found I just stuffed into my bag without really looking at it until I got home. Most of what I found consisted of nails and cow tags - except for what you see below. I believe these are hardware pieces from a coffin. I found all of them about 2 feet off of the northeast corner of the cemetery. They seem to be made out of some type of "pot metal."
The overseer told me that he and the new owner plan to clean and restore the old cemetery. I'm thinking I should return these pieces at that time. Thoughts? Anyone seen anything like this before? Any idea on age? Thanks for looking.
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