Experience. I have found many of these - Please read my other post. 90% of them have been found INSIDE a cellar hole, on a pile of rocks that was a foundation for a cabin and so on. I have detected such site for years. These are NOT new sites and NO modern 'stuff' is found at them. See my recent post on my Washington button find. We have found 6 large cents at the site, 17 _ _ , 1810, 3 X 1817 and an 1818. We found 8 - 1/2 dollar sized colonial coat buttons [three silver plated] tombac buttons, a couple of musket parts, and so on. I also found ON the pile of rocks a small 2" rounded corner batwing - dates the batwing I'd say. Sorry but despite what others have stated here these are NOT buckles used for oxen and so on. They are almost always found inside the cellar/foundation/pile of rocks here in the northeast. This is very typical. The pointed ones that I have found - over 20 of them have all been found at sites with relics from the early to late 1700's. At one site I also found a 1694 William and Mary 1/2 penny, a 1696 William III penny, 1797 large cent and large dutch kitchen-type fireplace swing arm, etc AND 6 Pointed Batwing buckles - every one was INSIDE the cellar/foundation, these were from a tiny 2" one to large 4-5 inch ones. Another 'tell' is what the cellar/foundation looks like. If it is shallow with a dutch-style center fireplace and 1' or so high walls it is OLD! At another pile of rocks over 1/2 mile back in the woods I found numerous flat buttons, a huge dutch brass over iron shoe buckle and a rounded pointed Batwing hand dated 1702!! I would suggest that these and many more similar stories are great 'provenance'. Oh another thing - none of these cellars appeared on any map = starting with the 1829 map > 1854 > 1862 > 1876 etc They were already out of use prior to the earliest map.
