What is this?

[mariner]

Can anybody help me identify this artifact? It was found, heavily encrusted, near the site of what might be a 16th century shipwreck buried under mud on the Oregon coast.

It is about five inches long and a quarter of an inch thick, with two pointed ends at about 90 degrees to each other. I think it is steel, and striations in the surface suggest to me that it is quite old. I think it is iron/steel, as it sticks to a magnet, but must be of a reasonable quality not to have rusted away.

There is a small flattened/smoothed area about an inch long which might have something engraved/written on it, but I can't make out what it might have been.

My initial thought is that it might have been an early, crude dental tool, but it might be too thick for that. Alternatively something to do with sailmaking.

I would appreciate any suggestions.

Mariner

 

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[tridentresearch]

Yes...it is a sailmakers needle, and as you point out, quite old indeed. Most probably made of a high percentage of Indonesian nickel. This Indonesian nickel has very high concentrations of iron-ore and has been known to exhibit some magnetising.

Hint of whats to come? Possibly.

Best;
TR

 

[mariner]

TR,

Thanks for that info. What makes you think it is made from Indonesian Nickel? Was that common, and does it suggest anything about the nationality of its owner?

Mariner

 

[MORE AND BEYOND OSSY]

Keep Digging Mariner, you may find a Manila Galleon.
Ossy

 

[mariner]

Ossie,

Nice to hear from you. It must be hard putting up with all that sun and hot weather Down Under.

We have a Manila Galleon wreck just a bit further up the Oregon coast, at Nehalem, but I am hoping that this one is the small Spanish bark belonging to Rodrigo Tello that Francis Drake captured off Costa Rica in 1579, and left behind on the Oregon coast when he went back to England.

He also left a crew of about 24 to man the ship and to try to get back to England through the Northwest Passage after wintering here on the Oregon coast. The wreck is near the mouth of the Salmon River, and a century ago people who lived there recorded that they used to catch their nets on a submerged wreck. One time they pulled up a spar of wood with bronze or brass bolts through it. Then in 1930 they pulled down a 330 year old spruce tree and under the root system they found three skeletons, at least one of which was definitely not Native American. The bones were only 200 foot from where the wreck was located, and in 1974, one of the family realized that the two might be connected. He probed the area and claimed to have found what appeared to be the remains of a ship 10 foot below the surface of a tidal mud-flat. He tried to get a Treasure Trove permit from the State but was turned down because he was proposing to do the excavation with a backhoe and the State said that if there was an old ship there, they did not want it destroyed in the process.

I have relocated the site, and did a magnetometer survey there a couple of months ago. We got some hits, and were proposing to then do a ground penetrating radar survey there to see if there were any non-magnetic metals, such as bronze cannons or (ssshhh!) silver bars. However, when we did some trials there last week, we found that the gpr will not penetrate beyond one metre, because of all the salt in the mud covering the ship.

Still pondering the next move.

By chance I had some friends for lunch at Christmas and one told me about an encrusted artifact he had found on the beach about quarter mile from the wreck site. It was the item I presented at the start of this thread. It is amazing how often serendipity makes an appearance, though I don't know if there is a way of linking the artifact directly to the wreck.

Best wishes for 2010. I see that Torres got a last-minute goal today to win the game at Villa.

Mariner

 

[mad4wrecks]

Amazing story Mariner...thanks for sharing it with us all. I wish you the utmost success on your project. Please keep us informed if you are able. Tom

 

[Ramitt]

Great stuff, keep us updated as you can.

 

[tridentresearch]

Mariner;
The metal content of the item is most important in this case. Should it prove to be a high concentration of Nickel, it would almost certainly be of Indonesian origin. And this would indicate a very positive clue thats its Spanish in origin, since the Spanish, through their Philippine or Manila trade, would have had direct access to such metals in the area.

A good example of this are the hard to find Bronze cannonballs commonly found on either Manila Galleons or Spanish vessels trading in the Pacific between Peru/Mexico and the PI, (Manila).

It may be a very good idea, should you be able to do so, to have a metalurgical test done on the item for confirmation of metal content....this would go a long way in identifying sourcing.

Keep in mind, you could just as easily be dealing with contamination from other eras, as the Russians in their trading with the Northwest coast may well have had such materials as well at around ca 1800 or so. Keep open the possibilities and let the factual data dictate your assessments on this. My best guess though, at this time, would be that it could very well be associated with Spanish origins...based on what is presently known of course.

All the best;
TR

 

[MORE AND BEYOND OSSY]

Fantastic mariner I am fascinated by Francis Drake, I have researched a few books on his life.
Please keep us updated on your finds.
Here's a bit of warmth from down under
Torres is looking sharp again, lets hope he stays fit for the world cup. England and Spain final.
Best wishes for 2010 to you and all here on Tnet
Sam