I can't help with the logo.  However, assuming the cap fit on a glass bottle, it cannot predate 1923, when screw caps and continuous-thread finishes were adapted for small bottles in general.  I qualify this slightly because screw caps were used on mouth-blown catsup bottles and whiskey flasks as early as ca. 1890.  I have never found a reference or an example of a screw cap on any other type of small-mouth bottle prior to the set of patents in the early 1920s.  Since this cap is very small, I would suspect a date of 1930s or later.  All of this assumes that the cap fit a small bottle or vial.  Screw caps were used on small-mouth cans, too, although I do not know date ranges for the cans.

Best of luck on the logo.  It could be a stylized Chinese figure.  If you have any students from China, you might ask.

Bill



-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Erin Hegberg
Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2014 10:15 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: artifact identification/maker's mark

Hello listeros,

I am hoping someone might be able to identify the artifact in the attached photos.

It is a small octagonal-shaped threaded screw cap. The metal appears to be possibly lead or aluminum. I am hoping someone recognizes the maker's mark.
One theory is that it is Asian. No bottle remains this size were located.

The artifact is from a homestead site in southern New Mexico. The rest of the assemblage suggests 1920s-1940s. It was not collected and I have not personally visited the site.

Photos of the front and back of the cap can be viewed at this link (it is a photo album within Google+):
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/109962100610853878865/albums/6075652626844086481


Many many thanks,
Erin Hegberg
Phd student, Dept of Anthropology
University of New Mexico
503-504-5985


https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/109962100610853878865/albums/6075652626844086481