Brass Whatisit from Civil War camp

[DCMatt]

This item was dug by one of my local buddies here in Northern Virginia. It came out of a know camp area used repeatedly by both armies near Leesburg, VA. This field has produced literally thousands of Civil War relics over the decades and continues to give up a few today. Some pre and post war items have come out of the ground here but mostly CW era stuff. Sadly, it is currently a construction site for new condominiums so hunting there is rapidly coming to an end.

Hollow brass. Appears to be a two piece item. Non-magnetic. No damage or worn spots that I can see. There may have been some type of mounting devices like nails or screws on either side of the tab. They are nearly degraded away. What looks like rust or remnants of iron on the underside is actually Virginia red clay.

Any thoughts?

 

[Hawks88]

Interesting find but I have no idea what it is.

 

[Plug N Play]

Is there any suggestion that it might swivel ... maybe a canteen cover, tarp cover, binocular case cover, type clasp ?
Just guessing.

 

[araanderson]

Almost looks like a bike brake pad, but that's the wrong era.