Ancient cargo?

[raf_sing]

This past weekend I spent time on an island that is known to be a navigational aid for ancient traders between Middle East and Asia. It's a sleepy place and even though lots of pottery has been found in the past few years that bespeaks the island's busy trading past, there's no activity on the MD front there at all.

I found a lot of what look like nuggets (See image).

They're quite weighty, hard and inflexible and show no sign of corrosion whatsoever. They actually look a lot shinier than in the picture here.

My display reads them as bronze to silver. The signal is quite clean, i.e. not iron-y.

The odd thing is that they seemed to be there in good numbers, every 20-30 steps or so, after the tide had retreated, within a specific line along the beach. There were none higher up or lower down.

I use the Garrett 250.

Any idea what they could be? Is there a test for different kinds of metal that we can subject them to?

Cheers.

Bryan

Image

 

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[jeff of pa]

welcome ! looks like bits of Melted lead to me but coloring is off

 

[raf_sing]

Don't think it's lead, Jeff, because it's hard, whereas lead tends to be bendy and dentable.

 

[yaxthri]

If you profile pic is of the island you write about I'd love to help you out searching :-)

 

[raf_sing]

Well, it didn't look much different But it's its location that is interesting here, because its unique profile used to be a navigational beacon for the trading ships. But of course, countless vessels still went down nearby due to the ubiquitous reefs, squalls and what have you in this area. This is why I'd love to know what these nuggets are.

 

[yaxthri]

Did this island see any WW2 action? I've found brass shrapnel that looks a little like these "nuggets"...

 

[cudamark]

There are acid kits available to test certain metals. Check on E-bay

 

[mick56]

Melted aluminum cans, leftover from throwing cans in a bonfire.

 

[Dug]

Melted pewter looks a lot like lead, but is very hard also while still having that weighty feeling. Of course melted silver would do the same thing.

Melted aluminum would not feel weighty.

I agree with the recommendation for acid kits.

 

[raf_sing]

Some good notes there guys - thanks.

I like the melted cans theory, because it's a holiday place, so yes, bonfires are frequent, and there's nothing more fun that chucking your empty can in the fire eh. That said, the nuggets are too weighty to be aluminum - they feel quite dense for their size. (Do the cans melt in a bonfire?)

There was plenty of WWII action in the region, but the number of these nuggets is too high to justify the shrapnel theory, since there was no direct bombing here. Besides, they don't look like brass and they're not shard-like, more nugget like.

Maybe pewter or tin deposits?

What I'm hoping for is that some ancient VOC trading ship that wrecked offshore years ago has busted open due to the recent monsoon we've had, which was exceptionally strong and long, i.e. high wind and lots of wave action, currents etc. Perhaps that was the final pounding the hull needed to break open and spill its cargo, which then traveled along the sea floor and was then deposited onto the beach. That's what happens during the monsoon here: the beach is eroded by several meters at the start of the monsoon and then it's all dumped back at the end of the monsoon. So plenty of mixing going on.

Anyways, yeah, I have to get an the acid kit. Let you know.

Cheers.

 

[raf_sing]

BTW, just tested using a magnet - they're not magnetic at all.

 

[yaxthri]

Well good luck. Would love to see some VOC cargo been found...

 

[raf_sing]

Cheers Yax. Keep you posted.

 

[taz42o]

You could do a specific gravity test.
Melted cans often feel rather heavy, more than you would think for aluminum.


http://johnbetts-fineminerals.com/jh...ic_gravity.htm

[url]http://www.reade.com/resources/reference-charts-particle-property-briefings/88-specific-gravity-table-metals-minerals-ceramics-substance-

[/URL]

 

[raf_sing]

That's very useful Taz, cheers.