DAY 7: Friday the 13th breaks Coin Streak (?); Possible 200 BC Relic w/ Pics!!

[Rusted_Iron]

hey everyone,

Well, I got done with work early today and was able to put in some more time at the field that yielded 7 large cents.

I pounded that area like there was no tomorrow. The easy hits are getting sparse.

I did not find any more large cents, but that streak of 7 is something I have never had before. And how weird, today is Friday the 13th, when the streak broke. I did not even consider that until I got back. But then again, there is some cool stuff to show. Read on.

(As for a streak, I'm not going to say never again, because you always have to believe that's possible tomorrow or the next day. It's what keeps you going. Awesomeness, always just around the corner. Yeah, buddy!!)

So anyway, I swung the coil until my arm was ready to fall off. I did find some nice relics, consistent with the others (say, 1820-1840's). Couple of cute little buttons. I likes buttons.



I was also pretty happy about the large iron nail or spike. The head is unlike the ones I have dug so far.

But what's really interesting is a coin-like object I dug. It was on edge and gave an iffy signal, somewhere in the foil to pulltab range. It appears to have had a button shank soldered to it at one time (green ghost of a circle in the center), but it is clearly not your ordinary flat button. It is highly irregular. If you back away from the screen and look at the picture from afar, you should be able to see traces of what appear to be ancient letters or symbols, possibly Greek. It is easier to see them in real life, because I can rotate the piece in the light.

My overall feeling is that it's the remnant of a very worn ancient coin that someone made into a button in the early 1800's.





Now I'm also putting up photos of the object found on Nov 10. By a very odd coincidence, CONSTANTINVS posted some finds just the other day, where one of the objects was very, very similar to this iron thing I found in the field. His relic is 200 BC (I don't believe he just made that up, either... seen this item somewhere else, but can't remember where).

Something told me to keep this iron object, not just because it was iron. I cannot explain how, but it seemed different from any iron relic I'd ever dug.

So I cleaned it up, and I'm now pretty sure it's not any ordinary logging item. There was the suggestion that it might be a gaffer's hook, but now that it's clean, I do not think that's what this is, because there are some peculiarities about it that suggest a different use entirely.







If I am right, then I have found an Iron Age relic, perhaps kept as a souvenir by the person who dropped all those Large Cents. And the possible ancient coin made into a flat button (found today) is further support for my theory.

If so, then this is the oldest man-made thing I have found with a metal detector. And if it's not, I have a very hard time explaining away the pecularities of construction as a 19th Century iron relic.

Of course, one alternative is that Yappy and his ancestors landed here far, far earlier than 1820, and that UFO was a reverse-anachronism placed there to fool me...

Thanks for looking, everyone!

Chris

 

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[Old River]

Nice finds you got there. Congrats....HH.....

 

[Hardy]

OK , ITS A HARPOON Probably kept as a momento from a Sailor on the ships out of Boston that moved into

N.J

 

[ModernMiner]

Holy smokes Chris, you're on a roll !!!
Very cool finds,
MM

 

[Rusted_Iron]

OK , ITS A HARPOON Probably kept as a momento from a Sailor on the ships out of Boston that moved into

N.J

Thanks for the ideas, Hardy. I actually thought harpoon at first, also.

But it looks like we have a challenging Whatsit here. The odd pit that's carved or forged into the inside of that little nook, against the back (1st and 2nd pic of the object, above), would tend to weaken the structural strength and render it useless as a harpoon or a hook. But that pit looks like it was placed there for some reason. There is also a little ledge, I have another pic that might show it better.



The ledge and the pit are something I've never seen before, and also the thing is crooked



18th / 19th century smiths were pretty careful. The amount of crookedness just doesn't seem right for any harpoon I've seen. Also the iron has a blister impurity in the back (not shown) which I have never seen in early American forged iron. And the de-laminations (for lack of a better word) I find in early iron of that period are not present.

Until someone can definitively prove otherwise, I am likening the object to the one in CONSTANTINVS's post:

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,281780.0.html

It is not identical, but it is so similar that it warrants serious comparison, in my opinion.

 

[Hardy]

HMMMMM I would say that his object is very similar , maybe both are Harpoons used for Seals and such , wouldn't be good

on a whale as your and his are too small. Its to bad that the Prong/barb broke off. As per it age, it would be very hard to determin

unless sent to a lab. If I had that Item and was wondering its use and origin , I would first of all send photos and measurements

to a maritime museum in Boston then proceed from there. whats the Size of that puppy ?? I should of asked earlier

 

[Rusted_Iron]

HMMMMM I would say that his object is very similar , maybe both are Harpoons used for Seals and such , wouldn't be good

on a whale as your and his are too small. Its to bad that the Prong/barb broke off. As per it age, it would be very hard to determin

unless sent to a lab. If I had that Item and was wondering its use and origin , I would first of all send photos and measurements

to a maritime museum in Boston then proceed from there. whats the Size of that puppy ?? I should of asked earlier

Yeah we have a real puzzle here!

Overall length is about 3 1/4 inches. The flat part is about 3/4 inch wide.

If it is a harpoon, it is a very old and crude one. There is no apparent way to fasten it to a wooden pole. In fact, it does not look like the object was designed to be attached to anything, at least not for rough use (such as you'd do with a harpoon).

The force necessary to break the barb off (if it was a harpoon) would have been presumably much greater than the force to break away the item from a wooden pole, seeing as there are no holes or sockets. In other words, the owner of this harpoon would have lost it in the ocean long before breaking off the barb... if it were a harpoon.


Edit....... I might add, I'm not at all sure this piece has any maritime or hunting connection at all. It could be something entirely different.
I may include a photo of it shown "upright" to give other ideas about its possible uses. I do not even know for sure that what you are seeing is a broken-off barb. In fact, I have a hunch that the object is mostly complete and has no connection at all to hunting or fishing.

I wish Constantinvs would log into Tnet and see this thread. Someone out there knows what this is, just by looking at it. I could swear I've seen one on some ancient artifacts type of website while browsing the net, but I can't remember where. I periodically like to look on ebay and the web for items I cannot afford and/or would not want due to extremely questionable provenance and lack of historical context

Anyone??

 

[allen]

you are onto a great site for certain !!!

 

[Colonial Copper Zeus]

Interesting iron hook artifact. I would be curious to see if you can positively ID it. My oldest metal object is a Copper culture native American small axe head like object. Possibly 5000 years old or so.
Chris

 

[goldguru]

I guess it depends on where you found this piece of iron, but my guess is that it was the broken point of a wooden colonial plow. The flat part was downward to the ground, and the long piece which attached it to the wood has broken off.

I Kinda like that idea how ever the tail end appears to be Made that way not broken?

See What Happens when Ya dont give Lil Yappy a Bone now & again..


That spot still got some good things there Keep @ it.

 

[goldguru]

Ooop's Sure I can go with that..

 

[Rusted_Iron]

I guess it depends on where you found this piece of iron, but my guess is that it was the broken point of a wooden colonial plow. The flat part was downward to the ground, and the long piece which attached it to the wood has broken off.

Johnnyi, it could be a small "tooth" from an early plow, but that would also have to be what the item was in CONSTANTINVS's post. Of course, I guess they needed plows in the Iron Age also, so that's possible. However, the "pit" appears to have been put there deliberately and would not be consistent with a plow point, either. It weakens any structural strength the thing could have had. Do you have any diagrams or links for such a plow point?

I wish CONSTANTINVS would log in and tell me what his 200 BC item is. I PM'ed him also.

The piece is only about 3 1/2 inches tall and maybe 3/4 inch wide. Not very big..

I am still fairly sure it's not a harpoon, and I still get the feeling this object had a use that none of us has yet touched on. As always I could be wrong, but this sure is a fun one. And... hopefully that site will yield up some more cool stuff!

Interesting iron hook artifact. I would be curious to see if you can positively ID it. My oldest metal object is a Copper culture native American small axe head like object. Possibly 5000 years old or so.
Chris

Workin' on it. Would love to see that copper axe head object, sounds very cool. Dug from PA?

you are onto a great site for certain !!!

Holy smokes Chris, you're on a roll !!!
Very cool finds,
MM

Nice finds you got there. Congrats....HH.....

Thanks Allen, MM, and Old River.

I think Hardy has a good idea, send it to a museum for analysis. The micro structure of the metal (martensite, etc) might tell us a lot, but first I want to get an idea of what this object was supposed to be used for, based on its design.

I am browsing as many sites of ancient artifacts on the web as possible, but something tells me to focus on Iron Age Celtic stuff from the south of France / northern Spain area, because I think that is where CONSTANTINVS found his? I am pretty sure I saw this object somewhere (website, somewhere), and that might be what subconciously told me to keep it in the first place.

I have a feeling this item might have been a tool used in the making of something else. The function of the pit and the groove might become obvious when we figure out what kind of tool.

 

[Woodland Detectors]

Chris! Have you been in my finds bag? Just my kind of digs buddy. Mike

 

[Rusted_Iron]

See What Happens when Ya dont give Lil Yappy a Bone now & again..

Yeah, I know... he goes and puts some mysterious thing in the field to puzzle us for hours!! He was not content just to bark, now he's waging psychological war on us. The little beast.

Chris! Have you been in my finds bag? Just my kind of digs buddy. Mike

Heheh. Glad you like 'em Mike, I think we need to get together and do some 'tectin!


One more idea, guys. It just dawned on me that this could have been a tool for shaping softer metals such as gold. Try that on, at least till I do some more research, or someone can positively ID this thing. I may have to make a trip to the library.

Oh, and one more thing before I log off tonight. You know what all this means....... Now I have to go back to that field (shucks...) and dig every single iron hit.

 

[johnnyi]

"Johnnyi, it could be a small "tooth" from an early plow, but that would also have to be what the item was in CONSTANTINVS's post. "

Rusted-iron, you'r right, I imagined this piece was much bigger. It can't be a plow point, and sure seems to be what's in Constaninvs's post also.
With both Constantinus's object and your object being broken where they are broken (pretty thick part of the iron) , do you think it's possible these could be more along the lines of a single tooth cultivater or seedplanter?