Lead Ball in my arrowhead hole??

[irbaddadjoe]

Found this lead ball in a rock shelter that Ive been finding alot of points in . There was a broken bird point within inches of this. Im not familiar with old bullets. Could this be a musket ball or something modern? Probably wrong place to post. I apologize if it is.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Agony and Death on a Gold Rush Steamer: The Disastrous Sinking of the Side-Wheeler Yankee Blade - Grab it through Amazon!

[SoIll]

Dig deeper!

 

[archer66]

Kinda seems like that rock shelter has had use in more than one century huh....

There is a cave on my grandparents farm....it is worthless archeologically because it was unprofessionally dug in the early 1900's and has had people and animals in it ever since. In the 1950's my dad as a teenager found a cache of beautiful spearpoints hidden away in a fissure in the wall of the cave. Walking into that cave now you might find an arrowhead in the creek that runs out of it and right next to it you might find the hip bone of a long dead cow or maybe an old wooden wheel off of a 1940's grain wagon. Point is unless a shelter is sealed it is likely to have remnants from visitors from ancient times as well as recent times.

Neat find though whatever it turns out to be.

 

[mikez]

I'm no expert but I don't think balls were used much, if at all, beyond the beginning of the 20th century.
My guess would be a Colonial era Indian used a shelter previously used by his ancestors and dropped a musket ball.
Cool find.

 

[RGINN]

Keep checking and keep notes of what you find. I can't say if that's a musket ball or not. Is it lead? We got the repeating rifles and iron for arrowheads as quick as we could. Always looking to update on technology and make life easier, you know. We would have used those compound bows if we could have got them.

 

[RPG]

Keep checking and keep notes of what you find. I can't say if that's a musket ball or not. Is it lead? We got the repeating rifles and iron for arrowheads as quick as we could. Always looking to update on technology and make life easier, you know. We would have used those compound bows if we could have got them.

If you guys had compound bows then, "we" would be living on reservations.
Randy

 

[RGINN]

Pretty good, RPG. You would have the casinos, too. But you would be living back in Europe, not on reservations. (I joke) Actually, if you compare them, the old bows, in capable hands were just as powerful and fast if not more so than the modern compound bows. Irbaddadjoe has a pretty cool place and I hope he comes up with more posts.

 

[RPG]

Pretty good, RPG. You would have the casinos, too. But you would be living back in Europe, not on reservations. (I joke) Actually, if you compare them, the old bows, in capable hands were just as powerful and fast if not more so than the modern compound bows. Irbaddadjoe has a pretty cool place and I hope he comes up with more posts.

I totally agree. I have shot long bows, flat bows and recurves for close to 20 years (I have no use for training wheels). When it comes right down to it, they will kick a compounds butt.

Sometimes I look at what we (white people) have done to this country that was once a paradise and wish we had never come here. I guess that's a different argument and we won't get into it now.

As far as the lead ball, I think buckshot and I agree with the person that said dig deeper.

Randy

 

[artorius]

Can't exactly tell from the photo, but if the ball diameter measures .36 inches, it might be a 36 caliber ball for a black powder pistol - such as a cap and ball revolver.

artorius

 

[RPG]

Can't exactly tell from the photo, but if the ball diameter measures .36 inches, it might be a 36 caliber ball for a black powder pistol - such as a cap and ball revolver.

artorius

I don't think this ball is very old. Lead that has been in the ground for any lenght of time forms a white patina. I could be wrong though, I've never found one in a rock shelter.

 

[irbaddadjoe]

I agree RPG . I was thinking that it should have some kind of crust or something on it . This shelter is however off the beaten path and the ball was about 12 inches down . Same depth as Im finding the good stuff. It had to have worked its way down. The exciting thing is that right next to this shelter is a cave . But you have to lay down to get in this cave but then it opens up by just looking in. But its the wrong time of year to play in caves. This location is infested with rattlesnakes and a couple big cats rumored to be in the same area. No telling whats in there. I was given acsess to these locations due to a job being done there. It has sure made it hard to concentrate on work knowing that all this history is here. Ive been trying to do lots of extras for this landowner to stay in his good graces.

 

[RPG]

12 inches down and under a rock shelter may be the reason it has no patina. That's pretty deep for a modern buckshot. I'm curious what it measures. As far as the cave, you're right, wrong time of the year. I'm glad it's not me having to wait, I'd go crazy waiting to get in there. Be careful when you do.
Randy

 

[irbaddadjoe]

Absolutely beautiful.

 

[RPG]

Rattlesnakes or no, I think I'd move in. That's a beautiful spot.

 

[Tnmountains]

Pretty good, RPG. You would have the casinos, too. But you would be living back in Europe, not on reservations. (I joke) Actually, if you compare them, the old bows, in capable hands were just as powerful and fast if not more so than the modern compound bows. Irbaddadjoe has a pretty cool place and I hope he comes up with more posts.

I am thinking modern Joe. maybe 32 cal without the normal patina. It matches some CW stuff in size I have dug. Still a cool site...... I will say being a hunter I have yet to see any recurve ever ever ever shoot the feet per second(fps) of a compond or store as much kinetic energy. They could be said to be faster on the draw maybe but not in flight or in knock down or in pass thru. Maybe the bow in Homers Odyssey .
Good luck on that shelter I had just posted on it.
HH
TnMtns

 

[MarkDz]

You can find old musket balls on or near the surface sometimes. I have to agree with the others, though... this one looks too new. Unless it was underwater or in some other airtight setting, it would almost certainly have a white or brown crust on it.