Dear List-members,

I'm sending the following from Lydia Wilson-Marshall, a PhD student at the 
University of Virginia. She sends the following:

I have a mystery artifact that I was hoping you could help me identify.   I 
recovered what I think may be an early 20th-century battery or  battery part at 
Awamthoya, a late 19th to early 20th century Giriama  homestead.  The  artifact 
was found in a STP, so stratigraphy is unclear.  It may be  modern and not 
relate to the  occupation, but I think it is more likely  to be from the 
occupation--Awmathoya was abandoned 1910-1920ish.  Its  metal core is encased on 
the edges in a type of flexible plastic  (bakelite?  celluloid?).  It may not 
even be a battery, perhaps part of a  weapon?  I'm more than a little lost on 
this one.

***

The site in question is located near the Kenyan coast, but I have also found an 
artifact which appears to be the same at a site on Zanzibar. If anyone would 
like to see a picture, you should be able to access one at the following link: 
https://wesfiles.wesleyan.edu/home/scroucher/Archaeology%20pictures/IMG_5241_reduced.jpg


Feel free to send replies to me off list at [log in to unmask] I will also 
forward any replies on to Lydia. 


Many thanks,
Sarah Croucher