It has somewhat the appearance of a skull/mosser from an iron forge but the photos had not enough detail to be sure. These are discards at the end of the day that are then tossed, sometimes for landfill. If it is a mosser, the interior should be somewhat bubbly/porous with charcoal, silica blobs and rust from iron. If you pick it up with your bare hand, your hand ought to be red and black.
Lyle Browning, RPA
> On Aug 11, 2015, at 8:34 PM, Craig Cipolla <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Dearest Histarch:
>
> I would love your help identifying a mystery object from a recent excavation in New England. It comes from a farmstead site dating to the last quarter of the eighteenth century. There is quite a lot of burning at the site (in fact, we believe that the whole structure burned down). The item in question isn’t iron, in fact it appears to be lithic(?) of some sort. It weighs 272 grams, so quite heavy for the size. I’ve uploaded some photos for your perusal (see link below). I apologize for the shoddy field photos.
>
> https://www.dropbox.com/sh/uxpraleqx6uzvdy/AABJ1IdISCgbAQK0HF00bjoPa?dl=0 <https://www.dropbox.com/sh/uxpraleqx6uzvdy/AABJ1IdISCgbAQK0HF00bjoPa?dl=0>
> I look forward to your thoughts and/or questions! Thanks very much for your time.
>
> All the best,
>
> Craig
>
>
> Craig N. Cipolla, Ph.D.
>
> Lecturer in Archaeology
>
> School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester,
>
> University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
>
> E: [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> http://leicester.academia.edu/CraigCipolla <http://leicester.academia.edu/CraigCipolla>
> Twitter @CraigNCipolla
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