We found more hotspots and once again my theories have been blown out the water. I had assumed these hotspots were due to people camping near the wagon road on their way through to Stanger but these latest fields are quite a distance from the wagon road. I've started marking them off in Google Earth to see if I can spot a pattern but have found nothing conclusive so far. They do sort of form a line but there is no link in terms of elevation or directions the hillsides face. They are also about 2km's from our home and I did 15kms of walking this past Saturday alone. Nothing wrong with that!
I didn't have high expectations for these fields because they are not near any buildings or propper roads for that matter. We had to figure out how to get there and our first attempt resulted in us traversing a very muddy road on foot and it looked like even tractors had gotten stuck there. The hill is home to two steel giants, their outstretched arms effortlessly supporting the heavy weight of the high-voltage cables that pulse with anywhere up to 750 Kilovolts of electricity. These giants overlook a flattish section of the field about halfway up to the top of a hill. As we got closer to the power lines the detectors started chattering with the electromagnetic interference, as if they were in conversation with the giants. This can be a little off putting when you are trying to listen closely to for those faint, deep, signals. If I recall correctly my first signal was a Victorian General Service button that looks like it got hit pretty hard by something as it has one flat section towards the bottom. I would love to know if this what resulted in it coming off or was it just the result of lying in a field that gets ploughed every few years. It turned out to have a beautiful green patina when I got the dirt off, I could clean it further but this way you can get a feel for how long it was lying in the soil.
Victorian General Service Button - Smith and Wright Backmairk
The second was a mixed-signal that had a lot of iron in it, I guessed it would be a big chunk of iron but dug it to see if we were dealing with tractor parts or something old. Out came a piece of broken cast-iron pot. Experience has taught me to slow down my pace and spiral out when I find these.
Piece of cast iron pot showing the tell-tale parallel horizontal lines.
Less than a meter from the British button was a button I didn't recognise. I cleaned it up when I got home and was quite surprised to find it is an old American General Service button, dating between 1820 and 1850. The Great Seal buttons we usually find are from 1902 through to WW2 but this one is definitely older. It is quite similar in style to the Victorian button. 2 military buttons from different countries less than a meter apart and a piece of broken cast iron pot. Were these soldiers having a meal together or involved in an altercation?
American General Service Button - Backmark Horstmann Philada
1800s General Service button compared with one from 1902
Not much else came up during that session but the interest had been ignited. It was extremely hot that morning and the family was tired, so we headed home for some lunch.
After lunch, I returned to follow the rows of sprouting sugarcane in an attempt to see what else I could find. I found a few nice relics, some small buttons and some, as yet, unidentifiable objects. One looks like it may be part of some sort of paraffin lamp (Edit: This is apparently a cordite flash-unit from an old shell cartridge) and the other a type of bell. The bell reminds me of a desk call-bell type but it is made of rather thick (2mm) copper.
Possible Copper Bell
Possible Cordite Cartridge Flash-Unit
The most interesting item was lying on the surface, under a pile of cut sugarcane leaves. I cleared the leaves in preparation to dig, and saw it just lying there. There lay a very small round object, 15mm in diameter. When I picked it up I could only just make out the lettering on it and initially, I thought I had a coin. It wasn't familiar in size or design and it took me quite a while before I could make out enough of the lettering to get a positive hit on my searches. The lettering read "L.CHR.LAUER*RECH-PFEN" and my search turned up that it is a german counter token minted from 1818-1873. It was minted at the L. Chr. Lauer mint in Nuremberg, Germany. The rech-pfen is the abbreviation for Rechenpfennig that google translates as "arithmetic penny".
Counter tokens were used in the same way as an abacus. There would be a board with lines on, the tokens would be pushed across to the other side when counted.
Before and Cleaning
Partially Cleaned
Fully Cleaned
Here are some of the other finds.
Fini Paris Button
Some of the old buttons from the field of giants.
In the picture above the button on the bottom left is labelled "J.S. Moss & Son Manchester." When I researched it I found this video from the streets of Manchester in 1901. You can see the tailor "Moss and Son" in the background. It's especially clear towards the end of the video.
One of the chattery giants keeping careful watch as we dig up his field.
Hmnn, I wonder what this could be?
On our next adventure we went down to the bottom of the hill and I found the rarest item I have ever found. It could even be the find of a lifetime.
Way to leave us hanging! What was the rare find of a life time? Is that for the next post?
ReplyDeleteYou'll have to wait for the next post :)
ReplyDelete