Cave finds

[Icewing]

I revisited a cave today where I had found 4 old No 12 head stamps a few months ago. I found 8 more head stamps, a pocket knife, a stone scraping tool, and what looks to me like a bone tool.
The bracelet came from a park later in the day.

 

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[BagLady]

What are "head stamps"? They look like the end of a shotgun shell.
That bone tool could have been a sewing needle, but it looks like its made of tusk or tooth to me.

 

[Tejaas]

What are "head stamps"? They look like the end of a shotgun shell.

They are one and the same, ma'am.

And that is without a doubt a critter tooth, as well.

~Tejaas~

 

[Icewing]

Ah yes, I forgot to mention all of the bigger than a house cat teeth and other bones scattered about, and the fresh green scat, I kept checking my surroundings for sure. Luckily nothing was positively human so that's a plus. The long straight hollow bone that has been opened on one side is the one I believe is a tool.

Here's another shot of the headstamps, and the bone that I accidentally left out of the original pic.

 

[eyemustdigtreasure]

I revisited a cave today where I had found 4 old No 12 head stamps a few months ago. I found 8 more head stamps, a pocket knife, a stone scraping tool, and what looks to me like a bone tool.
The bracelet came from a park later in the day.
View attachment 1264534

Shot shell headstamps can be dated.
visit Shotgun

I wonder if the person was shooting at the harmless bats in the cave?
AND if so, wonder if he lost some HEARING in the process (hope so!)..!

 

[celtic fox]

could be something there worth a good scout

 

[Icewing]

Shot shell headstamps can be dated.
visit Shotgun

I wonder if the person was shooting at the harmless bats in the cave?
AND if so, wonder if he lost some HEARING in the process (hope so!)..!

There are no bats in this relatively small cave, to me it looks as if someone inside the cave was in a gun battle with someone on the outside (just a theory). It looks like a perfect place to hide out, there is another cave close by that has a fresh water spring that would be potable. The back portion has filled in a bit but who knows, there could be more buried in there.

Catch 22: Should I spend days sweating it out excavating a cave?
I have dated most of the shells to around 1890-1915 as beginning dates of production. Some have narrow date ranges ending in the early 1910's. Another thing that struck me as odd was the variety of brands, almost all were a different make, but all of them were No 12 black powder shells.

 

[A2coins]

Now that is freakin cool that's history you never know what you will find in there awesome .Careful of Bats

 

[meMiner]

Very interesting. I would definitely do some more work in there to see if it goes further back and what might be in wall hidey-holes or could be sifted from the dirt floor. If there was a gun battle, there might be evidence on the outside of a fire. After the first few shots, normally the poor guy would get burned or smoked out by dropping fire from above. This would make a great video if you have a Youtube channel. If you don't, I would be happy to put you in touch with a buddy who has a major channel and probably would love to explore it with you. PM me if you would like that.

 

[A2coins]

excavate. are you kiddin. YEA