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 Replies: 19 / Views: 3,966 |
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
449 Posts |
Hi,
Im a keen metal detector and recently I found what I think to be a chisel, it is fairly heavy and about 8.5" long. It was about 14" down and right next to a very old forest. If I was to show you guys a picture of it would you be able to help me identify it?
Thanks,
Will
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Pillar of the Community
United States
615 Posts |
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Valued Member
 United Kingdom
449 Posts |
Ok, I will get some pics up in the afternoon.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1000 Posts |
I have found a railroad spike metal detecting before in a forest trail. Later down the trail I discovered that part of the trail was marked off with railroad ties. A spike must have fell off when they were being dragged there. Is it possible this is what you found? Just making a guess before the pictures are posted.
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
449 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
5953 Posts |
Look like log splitters to me...
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
449 Posts |
Possibly, if so how old would it be?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5953 Posts |
They have been using steel/iron spikes to split logs for centuries.. Short of carbon dating I know of no way to check how old the items you have they are in too poor a condition to check for markings. Which probably would not be there anyway as most of these items were home made.
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
449 Posts |
Great thanks, any estimations on age?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
731 Posts |
looks like a splitter to me too.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4212 Posts |
Nice head- scratcher. Age is difficult to determine. By "forest, do you mean Oregon, or Sajauro National forest in AZ?
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Valued Member
United States
97 Posts |
 With it being found in the UK, the age is anyones guess. Thats neat though, have you searched the area close to it more carefully? You may find a axe/hammer head as well. Happy Hunting! |
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
449 Posts |
If you go on google maps and type in Trent Park country park England I found it in the woodland where the green arrow is pointing, to answer you question, I have searched round where the find was but found nothing of the same depth.My friend regarded it as a lump scrap but from the shape my thought was different. Could anyone put a really rough estimation on age?
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2838 Posts |
Looking at the area on Goolge maps there are railway lines to the East, South and West. When I lived in the NE we had an old railway line behind our house and as a kid I used to find things like this. It was closed during the 60s after the Beeching report and even though most of it had been removed a lot of the sleeper spikes could still be found.
I agree with MINT_MARQ that its one of those - ether discarded when the near lines were upgraded or perhaps from an older line that used to run through the current park.
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
449 Posts |
Oh well it was worth a try :), I do know that the park used to be a POW camp for German officials, we have found drill bullets, 303 casings, bayonets and even a man trap!(which we were unable to remove as it was chained to a tree!)
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2838 Posts |
It could be something more interesting - hope it is but its difficult to 100% identify as wedges and spikes have so many uses. The site was used for POWs in WWII but from this article it seems they were kept in the actual house so this would prob not be from an outbuilding but could certainly be from something else built at the time. There was also something called 'Camelot Moat' on the site in around 1440 and even Roman daggers have been found. Quote:
Sir Philip Sassoon conducted excavations in the 1920s and was reported to have found oak beams which formed the basis of a drawbridge, Roman shoes and daggers as well as mosaic tiles depicting a knight on horseback. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trent_Park |
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Replies: 19 / Views: 3,966 |
Posted 03/15/2010 04:42 am
