I.D. help with lead.

[GatorBoy]

This piece was found on a multi occupation site. items have been recovered from a 17th century Spanish fort that existed there.. also Second Seminole War items from a fort built on the same site. I can't help but think that this is some sort of a pendant. there appears to be what's left of a attachment loop on what looks like the top. Where Lead pendants ever made? Any help would be great...thanks.

 

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[rapidroy7]

Stange looking piece i dig stuff that kinda looks like that if you scratch it its shiny like lead/silver some are soft (when scratching) some are bendable.Did you try sticking a magnet to it? My buddy sometimes ask if iv'e found anything and I say found a couple more of those lead nuggets and he laughs at me? I dont know why! hh

 

[GatorBoy]

Hey thanks for the reply. Tried magnet its not magnetic. I have handled alot of lead. It is lead. It also has some white oxidation in spots. Where I got it is a bog like environment there is very little oxidation on anything.

 

[GatorBoy]

 

[plymouthian12]

looks like kokapelli

 

[GatorBoy]

OH MY..I had to look that up.. it sure does! I think I failed to mentioned that that site was native American occupied before those. This is very interesting.

 

[skeeterd]

Could it be spilled lead from bullet casting?

 

[GatorBoy]

I think Plymouthian12 nailed it! This has been shaped and has geometric patterns under magnification. Also part of an attachment point on the top. This piece has definitely been made.

 

[skeeterd]

Interesting! Now you need to find the gold chain it hung on!

 

[GatorBoy]

Right! I have some of the beads I think.

 

[mick56]

Spilled lead.

 

[GatorBoy]

Thanks for your opinion.

 

[Breezie]

I agree with skeeterd and Mick; it looks to be spilled lead. BUT you're holding it in your hand, and we're judging from a photo. Breezie

 

[GatorBoy]

Again thanks for your opinion...however lead turns white from oxidation. If in an enviornment of very little oxygen there is very little if any discoloration. Here is some lead from the same bog.also Flint from the same site. Please believe me when I tell you I've seen a lot of lead. spilled and otherwise. everyone is entitled to their opinion. And yes I noticed you edited out your sentence about how lead turns white with "age"

 

[GatorBoy]

 

[Breezie]

Again thanks for your opinion...however lead turns white from oxidation. If in an enviornment of very little oxygen there is very little if any discoloration. Here is some lead from the same bog.also Flint from the same site. Please believe me when I tell you I've seen a lot of lead. spilled and otherwise. everyone is entitled to their opinion. And yes I noticed you edited out your sentence about how lead turns white with "age"


View attachment 712179

Yes, I did edit out about lead turning white because it wasn't pertinent to your question. Hopefully you will find more in the area to determine what you think it is. Breezie

 

[GatorBoy]

I just didn't want it to appear I was talking to a gohst. But it was pertinent until I showed unoxidized lead from the second Seminole war? If that could be used as a benchmark for age it would be very pertinent. I thank you for your input.

 

[skeeterd]

I've changed my mind on the spilled lead theory. Molten lead flows easily and there appears to be sharp edges on both sides of this piece. I could see the sharp edges on one side from whtever the lead fell on to, but the top side would have had smooth ridges and bumps. Not ones with distinct edges. The only way for that to happen is by casting or tooling. IMHO.

 

[Breezie]

I just didn't want it to appear I was talking to a gohst. But it was pertinent until I showed unoxidized lead from the second Seminole war? If that could be used as a benchmark for age it would be very pertinent. I thank you for your input.

I edited my comment 'before' I saw your photo; therefore, to me it was not pertinent.

I also thought it could be a Bleigiessen sculpture. Are/Were there any Germans in that area? [SIZE=-1]The German custom of Bleigiessen is when a candle is lit, and small chunks of lead are melted in a spoon held over the candle. The melted lead is then poured into water and forms sculptures. Here is a site explaining the process: [/SIZE]http://www.mrshea.com/germusa/customs/bleimean.htm



Breezie

 

[GatorBoy]

Wow..that's pretty cool! That being said.. that process also leaves round edges. Just like a teardrop there is a round end and a pointed end. Like skeetered replied tooling or casting would be necessary to create patterns on this piece. The history of the area has no German occupation that I know of. Native Americans had a strong presence from the middle archaic through contact and into the seventeenth century when a fort was built on the site by the Spanish.. followed by a time of cooperation with the local tribe to defeat the French for Florida. That soon ended and plague followed for the local natives. By the mid eighteenth century there were very few of what once was the largest and most powerful tribe in the state of Florida.. the Ais tribe. To shorten this up a bit.. the next occupation was the newly formed U.S. military who built a fort there in 1838 to rid the state of the Seminole tribe that filtered into the area from the Georgia South Carolina area filling in the now mostly empty villages of the Former Ais tribe.and was used until the end of the Seminole war in 1842. There is some evidence of a trading post there after that but very little.