Interesting artifact! Could be a lock face from a trunk or it  could be a 
part of a padlock. My inclination it to the former rather than the  latter. 
Padlocks made before the late 1800's are huge and heavy and the good  ones were 
made from bronze. The fact that the pin/rivet holes in the corners are  small and 
made for square nails suggests that this is a lock off of some small  chest, 
or trunk. The marks are interesting and must have some meaning. The crown  
suggests a royal connection. One has to wonder how it came to be there and I  
would recommend that Skiles go to the site with a metal detector to see if there  
are some more clues. If it was a chest and was lost or broken up in that area 
 there may be small artifacts left scattered. This was the 'llano estacado'  
region where people routinely became lost and fell prey to bandits, or the  
Comanche and/or Kiowa Indians who lived there. The famed Santa Fe trader,  
Jedediah Smith was killed in this area by the Indians.  A footnote to his  death is 
that the traders tied blankets from small pox victims to several horses  and 
freed them in the vicinity where Smith was murdered. The poor Indians were  
overjoyed to get the horses and blankets. An epidemic ensued that took the lives 
 of hundreds of Indians in the region.  
Whatever, the piece looks to be  early (1700's?) and is worth more 
consideration.
Thanks for sending it on  over