Found an enfield bullet with teeth marks on it. Looks he may have bit the bullet literally
I'm gonna take a pic of my .69 caliber I found a few miles away from this carving and do a size comparison.
Surgeons would put a bullet between the teeth of soldiers when amputating limbs or probing for bullets, hence the saying "Bite the bullet".
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Not to get off topic but from my research i find that the soldiers would have used leather or something in that nature to bite down on during amputations and not a bullet in most cases. Bullets were bit on during treatment of wounds and stuff like that!! but biting down on bullets during amputations I think that is a basically a myth imo
Makes sense, if I bit down on a bullet right now, I would definitely break some teeth. I just know that several excavations have recovered lead that had teeth marks in it, and they were most often found around known locations where there was surgical activity. And I saw a couple found by relic hunters on this site over the years. So we know that soldiers were biting on them for some reason but I agree, leather would be Much better. Sorry to get off topic.
I see no reason why that couldn't have been carved from a .69 cal and can clearly see the white patina is consistent with dug CW era lead. Still think its an amazing, even astounding find! Definitely a museum piece.