In search of Pirate Treasure in the British Virgin Islands. Warning kind of a long po

Locke

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Oct 16, 2007
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I had the opportunity to do some work in BVI and was able to bring my Equinox 800 along for the ride. Had a boat drop me off on an island near Virgin Gorda on 3 separate occasions and went full Robinson Caruso on the island. It was probably the roughest detecting I’ve ever done, no marked trails, steep inclines, cliffs, head tall vegetation full of cacti and throned bushes, spiders, bees, hoards of wild goats and 85 degree heat with almost no shade.
ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1554658536.671627.jpg

Day 1: I spotted a tree about half way up the hill that stood out as being bigger then the rest of the vegetation and made my way to it. It was obviously an old camp site. Along the hills edge were countless old broken bottles (unfortunately I couldn’t find any that were intact) and burned cong shells. None of the items were more then 2-3 inches under ground dude to rocky terrain.
ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1554658631.578031.jpg

I found several what I believe are musket balls .65 - .67 caliber according to my caliper.
ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1554658660.830037.jpg

Several smaller musket balls with punched out holes (apx .59 in). I’m open to suggestions on what you guys think these are. I’ve seen musket balls being re-purposed as fishing net weights. However the holes seem very narrow? Could these have been used as jewelry?
ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1554658762.335142.jpg
ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1554658775.269196.jpg

I pulled out (and completely scratched :( a flat button). It has the word “Plated” on the back.
ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1554658802.353526.jpg

Favorite found of the day was a lead playing die!
ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1554658852.206735.jpg

Day 2: I decided to push to the top of the biggest hill. Again there was evidence of a camp site. Old broken glass bottles, pottery fragments, and more of the same;

Day 3: this was yet another overgrown camp site between two hill tops. I snagged a nice button. The back reads “Rich Gold Surface”.
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A couple of what’s its???
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And a few more musket balls.

A rather large .97 in (apx 25mm) lead shell fragment. This one stumps me. I found fragments of these shells all over the base and middle of the island.
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Although I was really hoping for a coin to help date the site, I still had a blast, not to mention a hell of a workout.

I’m hoping the TNet community can chime in on ANY pictures you see to help with dating these finds!!!

Few more group pictures:
ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1554659303.265731.jpg ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1554659326.399925.jpg
 

Upvote 23

CRUSADER

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May 25, 2007
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''smaller musket balls with punched out holes'' - NOT wormed, just net weights or fishing weights.

Finds date from 1830s-1910s.
 

Robot

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Mar 10, 2014
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That Would Be...One "Heck" Of A Distance...To Cast A Net!

''smaller musket balls with punched out holes'' - NOT wormed, just net weights or fishing weights.

Finds date from 1830s-1910s.

Wormed Musket Balls...Partially Drilled

Possible Musket Balls Used For Fishing...Drilled Right Through and closer to the shore.

These Musket Balls are located some distance from the Shore or any Civilization and are found with other shot Canon and Musket Balls, as if being in a Training Range!
 

CRUSADER

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May 25, 2007
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Wormed Musket Balls...Partially Drilled

Possible Musket Balls Used For Fishing...Drilled Right Through and closer to the shore.

These Musket Balls are located some distance from the Shore or any Civilization and are found with other shot Canon and Musket Balls, as if being in a Training Range!
I find hundreds off these all different sizes but roughly the size of some of the bigger musket balls. (not near the sea, but not far from a large river) Some date to the late medieval period, & they are not certain of there use. Some are just called 'weights'. Here are a couple of recorded ideas;
https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/936215
https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/888853
https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/858430
 

Relicific

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Feb 2, 2017
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Interesting finds
 

Sooper Dave

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Jul 20, 2012
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Great digs from a beautiful place! Love the lead die. I found a soldier made die from a CW camp a couple of months ago. It's one of my favorite relics.
 

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Locke

Locke

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Oct 16, 2007
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Crusader and Robot, thank you guys for your great input and research! (I’m sorry I was away for a while and am responding late).

Thank you all for your comments!
 

Robot

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Mar 10, 2014
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I Thought...I Had Seen This...Somewhere?

This item has bothered me for sometime...I believe it to be...A Slave Neck Shackle?

Slave Neck Shackle 1.jpg

Slave Neck Shackle 2.jpg

As these examples?

Slave Neck Shackel 2.jpg Slave Neck Shackel.jpg Slave Neck Shackle 3.jpg Slave Neck Shackle 4.jpg
 

Relic Shooter

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Apr 22, 2020
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Congrats on the finds Locke! As a frequent visitor to VG and the neighboring islands these finds have me absolutely salivating to go hunting down there now!
 

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