Dougie Webb
Sr. Member
- Jun 14, 2019
- 402
- 697
- Detector(s) used
- Fisher F5
Garrett Ace 200
- Primary Interest:
- Metal Detecting
Hi all!
I generally do what I can to figure out my new finds, because I don't want to be that noobie who's always asking for help, but I need it here! I even showed this stuff to a local geology professor and he had no idea.
I'll say in advance that I err on the side of "TMI" but I've seen so many posts from newcomers where they throw up one dimly lit picture with no context and say "hellloooo, what is it?!?!"
What I have here is a series of finds over the past couple of weeks in the same general area (within 20 feet). For the purpose of semantics, I'll say there's two pieces of "pottery" and two "rocks" that I'm pretty sure are related. When I first discovered these in the ground with my Garrett 200, I was getting readings between 80-90 (the "coins" section), but after I unearthed them, and inspected them closer, I started getting different readings when I hit from different angles...in addition to ~90 (which is still the principal reading), I also get around 40 ("nickel") consistently and in the low 60's (rings/jewelry) occasionally. I also picked up a few scant beeps in the "iron" category (1-20). I know these numbers are relative, but at least maybe this helps with a baseline.
A little on geography. I live about 5 miles as the crow flies from Stone Mountain, GA, and these were all found at the edge of Snapfinger Creek (near its source).
One thing to note is that all of these pieces are very light. The pottery shards have the sound of a plate when you drop them on the counter. The rocks feel lighter than you would expect a real rock to weigh.
This is the first shard on a piece of letter paper for size comparison (it's about six inches long). I cleaned this six ways from Sunday (silver polish, baking soda, steel brush, and even, yes, dishwasher). At first glance, I thought this might be a piece of pipe, but the fact that it is so brittle/light and the "ridges" on the side make me doubt that...in addition to the fact that I've found old pieces of actual pipe about 100 feet away from this and they are the traditional, heavy iron type. Also, although the ridges you see below are mostly symmetrical, they are not perfect in terms of spacing and size. I took a caliper to it and there are variances of up to a sixteenth of an inch.
A close-up on the same side
The reverse side
Hopefully you can see the details on the ridges
This will help see the curvature
The bottom of the shard has this protrusion
This is a smaller shard found closeby. It's been cleaned but did not go through the dishwasher like the bigger piece.
And the top lip of this smaller shard has detail the larger piece did not
The first of the "rocks"
Other side - note how symmetrical the circle is
Finally, the other "rock." But again, this shape seems very non-natural, as does the weight...
I really would appreciate any help at all you can lend! Thanks!
I generally do what I can to figure out my new finds, because I don't want to be that noobie who's always asking for help, but I need it here! I even showed this stuff to a local geology professor and he had no idea.
I'll say in advance that I err on the side of "TMI" but I've seen so many posts from newcomers where they throw up one dimly lit picture with no context and say "hellloooo, what is it?!?!"
What I have here is a series of finds over the past couple of weeks in the same general area (within 20 feet). For the purpose of semantics, I'll say there's two pieces of "pottery" and two "rocks" that I'm pretty sure are related. When I first discovered these in the ground with my Garrett 200, I was getting readings between 80-90 (the "coins" section), but after I unearthed them, and inspected them closer, I started getting different readings when I hit from different angles...in addition to ~90 (which is still the principal reading), I also get around 40 ("nickel") consistently and in the low 60's (rings/jewelry) occasionally. I also picked up a few scant beeps in the "iron" category (1-20). I know these numbers are relative, but at least maybe this helps with a baseline.
A little on geography. I live about 5 miles as the crow flies from Stone Mountain, GA, and these were all found at the edge of Snapfinger Creek (near its source).
One thing to note is that all of these pieces are very light. The pottery shards have the sound of a plate when you drop them on the counter. The rocks feel lighter than you would expect a real rock to weigh.
This is the first shard on a piece of letter paper for size comparison (it's about six inches long). I cleaned this six ways from Sunday (silver polish, baking soda, steel brush, and even, yes, dishwasher). At first glance, I thought this might be a piece of pipe, but the fact that it is so brittle/light and the "ridges" on the side make me doubt that...in addition to the fact that I've found old pieces of actual pipe about 100 feet away from this and they are the traditional, heavy iron type. Also, although the ridges you see below are mostly symmetrical, they are not perfect in terms of spacing and size. I took a caliper to it and there are variances of up to a sixteenth of an inch.
A close-up on the same side
The reverse side
Hopefully you can see the details on the ridges
This will help see the curvature
The bottom of the shard has this protrusion
This is a smaller shard found closeby. It's been cleaned but did not go through the dishwasher like the bigger piece.
And the top lip of this smaller shard has detail the larger piece did not
The first of the "rocks"
Other side - note how symmetrical the circle is
Finally, the other "rock." But again, this shape seems very non-natural, as does the weight...
I really would appreciate any help at all you can lend! Thanks!
