These don't appear to be automobile, but rather some form of farm  
equipment. The wheel spokes are obviously wooden and the platform  
inside on the axle is for anchoring the wooden frame to the hybrid  
axle. Given how the parts are set, high relative speed is not a viable  
option, again pointing to an agricultural function.

The handle is more of a "setting" control that is meant to be left in  
place once done for that labor set.

This is a wonderfully poorly studied area in archaeology. Farms  
frequently had an area where clapped out farm equipment was placed to  
be scavenged later for spare parts. These are to me legitimate  
archaeological sites exactly the same as prehistoric lithic scatters  
or dump sites from historic house sites. They are concentrated discard  
locales rather than casual loss loci and as such reflect discernible  
and repeated behavior. From these one can discern what type of farming  
took place, when it took place and often there is a temporal  
progression of artifact types.

The good news is that there are generally groups who may have multiple  
examples of name brands and who exhibit them for public awareness.  
These tend to be more in the Mid-West. VA has an annual show in  
Goochland County called Field Day of the Past  
(www.fielddayofthepast.net) sponsored by the Rockville-Centerville  
Steam and Gas Historical Association. There are also various examples  
on the Mid-Atlantic as well.

Lyle Browning, RPA


On Oct 18, 2009, at 1:08 AM, Andrew Robinson wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> I am working on my master’s degree on a couple of sites in Southwest
> Michigan.  We located a number of automobile parts on the surface or  
> just
> below the surface.  One of the parts appears to be an axle,
> another might be a gearshift or emergency brake with a spring-loaded  
> handle,
> and “T 240” stamped into the metal.  The site dates from the
> mid-19th century to the mid-20th century.  I am wondering if anyone  
> has any
> information/sources to assist in identify the parts and/or the  
> vehicle model
> these parts came from.
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/39493264@N08/
>
> Thank you,
>
> Andrew Robinson
> Master's Candidate
> USFS Archaeological Crew Lead
> Colville National Forest, Newport, WA