Weird slate UPDATED

[bean man]

OK, I know this looks bad, but here's the deal. I found the two in the top of the picture together on top of the ridge in the woods mostly buried.
The other two in the mouth of the first ravine. All the slate I've seen around here is black and very soft. This gray stuff really stands out here.
It is very hard and I can't find any more pieces large or small in the area. The one in the upper left looks like it had hole to, but a piece broke
off
bm

Found the two small pieces in the creek and was still leaning toward this stuff being indian, until I went back to the exact spot in the woods where I found two of the original four. I started digging around with my foot and lo and behold out pops this big old thing. I think you were right Roy, because I don't think I can convince these guys that that's a indian breastplate.

 

[Oroblanco]

Re: Weird slate

Hello Bean Man,
They look to me like Colonial-period Appalachian slate roof tiles. The early colonists (and up into early 1800s) did not take the time to cut the edges square, just drilled holes for the roofing nails and slapped them on. The fact that you found only a few and not together tells me that it is not the site of a colonial-era homestead, but that somone building a roof passed through and dropped some of his roof tiles. A neat find, anyway, as they are uncommon and rarely seen. 8)

I could be way off, but this would be my guess.

Oroblanco

 

[bean man]

Re: Weird slate

Hi Oroblanco,

That is very interesting and a good possibility. The first settlers didn't come to this area until the 1840's, but this spot
has pretty much remained the same since then. Thanks for replying Oroblanco and giving me another possible lead to
investigate.

bm

 

[Oroblanco]

Re: Weird slate

Hello again,
I don't know when they started cutting slate roof tiles to make them squared, but would add one thing. Often enough you can find that real history of a particular area is considerably older than "official" history. For example, where we lived in NE PA, according to the local historical societies etc the first colonists didn't arrive until after the Revolution, 1780s, but we found records of people moving in prior to the French and Indian war (1760s) and even earlier, in the 1740s. Then we found a strange cannonball and some old musketballs in an area where there used to be an Indian village, and (eventually) found out that the cannonball was Dutch and dated to the 1640s, - the Dutch had been sending their military forces out to help one Indian tribe against another in the so-called Beaver wars, and this area had first been fought over by Europeans more than 150 years prior to the Revolution (about the time of Pocahontas and Captain Smith). Anyway if the earliest settlers arrived (officially) in the 1840s, I would not be surprised if you had earlier settlers, traders (especially traders as they traveled well beyond the "frontier" of settlement to open trading posts with Indians for the fur trade) religious missions (Jesuits, Franciscans and others) and military expeditions. Might pay to do some research through the old musty-dusty archives!

Still a neat find, it would have gotten ME very intrigued to hunt around there much more! Might find a trading post where Indians were trading furs!

your friend,
Roy ~ Oroblanco

 

[bean man]

Re: Weird slate

Hey Roy,

You got me thinking so I did something I haven't done in years and put batteries in my tesoro eldorado. I have never metal detected this area
before so maybe I'll get lucky and make a discovery. Thanks again!
bm

 

[Oroblanco]

Re: Weird slate

Dang Bean Man - you have good taste in metal detectors, I think Tesoro's are the best! I hope you find a trader's cache of colonial gold! Good luck and good hunting buddy!
your friend,
Roy ~ Oroblanco

 

[bean man]

Dang I screwed that up! Scoll up for update

 

[Neanderthal]

Oro, I learned a bit from this thread. You answered a question that I had for some time..thank you. I have another question for you though. Have you ever seen any slate tiles like that, but they are much thicker and have a "lip" on one side and beveled on the opposite edge? A friend has found several up in a NY field, they are intriguing.

 

[Oroblanco]

Hi Matt!

May I ask a couple of questions about those thick tiles? Do they have any holes drilled in them? Is there any kind of cement or lime/mortar remains stuck to the tiles? How thick are they, (a fair guess is good enough for me) if they are fairly thick it is likely they are tiles for a floor, or since you mentioned they had beveled edge on one side it is quite possible they were a counter or table top. Another likely answer is they were a part of a fireplace mantel or hearth. If you found several of these in one small area, that area is WELL worth doing some metal detecting around, as the use of slate tiles (for floors etc) without cement is sure to be an early site. Alternatively, whether they were a table top or counter top or part of a fireplace, I would still want to go over that area with a good detector. You just never know what you will find!

Bean man, thanks for the update w/photo, that is definitely slate tiles for roofing and probably O-L-D. It is possible to buy slate tiles today, but they are super expensive and relatively hard to find. NEAT thing to find out in the tall tules!

Good luck and good hunting to you, hope you find the treasures that you seek.

Your friend,
Roy ~ Oroblanco

 

[Neanderthal]

Roy, seems like they are made of banded slate. There is not concretion discernable on them. There are holes (drilled from both sides) and they are about 3/8" approx. thick.

 

[Oroblanco]

Hi Matt,

Thanks for the additional info. Sure sounds like they are too thick to be roof tiles, the thickest I ever saw were in my brother's old quarry and they were 1/4 inch thick and had been rejected as being too thick. If you can remember the spot where they were found - I would sure recommend giving that area a good comb with your best detector. Perhaps it was just chance that the slates ended up where they were found, but it is also likely there was some kind of structure there that is now vanished - so you might find real treasures! Good luck and good hunting to you buddy, I hope you will keep us posted as to what you find.

your friend,
Roy ~ Oroblanco

 

[bean man]

Roy, I wanted to tell you that I did check out the area with the Tesoro and was surprised by the lack of even trash targets. I found one old shotgun brass, two pulltabs, and two clad pennies. So I believe you were right about them carrying it through. Thanks again!

 

[Oroblanco]

Hi Bean Man - dang, sorry to hear that you found nothing else on the site where you found the slates. However even finding nothing is making progress - for now we have to ask where the tiles were being transported TO? It might pay to look at some aerial photos of the site, with an eye to old trails, wheel ruts etc and especially old foundations and cellar holes! I would suggest looking at some of the oldest maps of the area you can find too, even the local county plat maps might be some help in pinpointing old building sites. Good luck and good hunting to you buddy, I hope you find the treasures that you seek.

your friend,
Roy ~ Oroblanco

 

[bean man]

Cool Roy, I'll do that.