Hi all,

I have two suggestions.

1. I have seen tin cans cut in a similar way scattered over mining  
towns. Not all of those were cut in order to make lamps or anything.  
Many seemed to have been punched in rhythmic patterns out of boredom.   
Perhaps these were made into a windchime?

2. Have you considered that these were made into 'tinklers'?  Native  
people in the western USA made little metal tips for fringe on fancy  
outfits. As a dancer swayed, the fringe made a very satisfying tinkle  
or clicking noise. Perhaps these are meant to be attached to clothing?

Beat,
Tim

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 11, 2009, at 7:07 AM, "Avery, Paul" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> We did some work recently at an 1830s plantation house in North
> Carolina.  We recovered a fairly large number of cartridge cases from
> what appears to be an early 20th century deposit.  It was located just
> off of the front porch, so it looks like they were sitting on the  
> porch
> and plinking.  There were some unusual calibers, including several .32
> Winchester Self-Loading Rifle and .22 Winchester Automatic.  The most
> unusual thing though, was that there were more than a dozen .22 short
> and .22 long cases that appear to have been jabbed with a knife.  The
> cut goes through one wall of the case and runs lengthwise just above  
> the
> rim.
>
> Is this just random behavior indicative of boredom or is there more to
> it than that?
>
> Someone suggested that the cases were sticking in the person's gun and
> they used the knife to remove the case.  That makes some sense, but
> there isn't enough space between the edge of the cut and the mouth of
> the case on the .22 shorts for it to be stuck.  I can't imagine how  
> they
> managed to get the things to stay still while they punched the hole in
> them.  Risky indeed to hold something that small and stab it with  
> enough
> force to puncture the case!
>
> I plan to try it myself as soon as I have a chance to create some  
> empty
> .22 cases, but in the meantime, I'd like to hear from the group.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Paul G. Avery, RPA
> Senior Archaeologist
> MACTEC Engineering and Consulting
> 9725 Cogdill Road
> Knoxville, TN  37932
> Phone: (865) 588-8544x1169
> Fax: (865) 588-8026