What is this?

[kimbershot]

also posted in the civil war section.

weight--40 lbs.
6 inches wide
11 inches tall

found in civil war era church-SC.

thanks for looking.

s
sc

 

[charlie dert]

an expert would have a better guess but it looks like a piece of broken "bar shot" cannon ammunition to my untrained eye..if it is i would also guess it is a rare find..

 

[charlie dert]

On second thought after seeing the additional pics on the c/w forum i retract that guess...

 

[kimbershot]

i got my "thing" soaking in a bucket of water to knock off some of the crud. maybe there will be some markings? i will also check with the church elders to see if they ever lost a bell--i think my find is to big to be ordanance.

 

[flinthunter]

Maybe the clapper out of an old bell.

 

[charlie dert]

flinthunter could be right ..maybe a bell clapper.

 

[Ground_Hog_MD]

wow, really cool dig. i agree if it was dug near a church i would have to say church bell clapper.
i have had pretty good luck using an electrolysis tub to clean some of my rustier finds, might help.
looking forward to some cleaned up pics of it. very interesting to see what it ends up being .

 

[kimbershot]

First round of cleaning up my find.

Also, found a site that may help confirm just what i have--ie. http://www.realorrepro.com/article/New-handcuffs-leg-irons-slave-shackles

Will keep all posted.

 

[abnackimac]

Could it be?

 

[kimbershot]

I forwarded pics to a company in san fransisco that specializes in antique restraints. here is the reply as copy and pasted from the response email:


hi ! what you have is a --- scale weight -- but prisons use to add a chain with a leg shackle on the end of the chain etc etc and use them........ also as there were still plantations in the late 1800's on in to the 1940's -- some would also use them as stated above....... the type of ball that you have were never made for the above purposes, but true enough were used for the above.... there were actual FACTORY made ball & chains that were actually made for & used in the slave trade & prison use...... they all used what they could find & fashion together when needed.... hope this helps..... take care... joe

My ball was found at a church in the low country of SC. Slaves did attend mass and there were many plantations (still are) in close proximity to the church. I'm going to guess that this piece served the dual purpose, after noting wear in the area that a chain would be attached.

Still cleaning it up and will present it to our local historical society for which I am a member.

 

[Tiggit]

What a cool find!

 

[Ground_Hog_MD]

very interesting , and one hell of a find.
i live a couple miles from Fort Mose the first free African American settlement .
from what i read if a slave could run away and make it here to St Augustine`s fort Mose
they would be free and not returned to their owners.
i recently found a pair of old slave shackles barely under the dirt . i can`t imagine the hell
some people had to endure back in those times.