Lead piece found near old civil war prison site

[skullshoals]

Probably not a large enough piece to really identify but due to the history of the site I thought I'd at least throw it out there. It was a steam mill in site in the early 1850's and closed around the start of the war, then the building was a make-shift prison for union officers, then the ruins were bulldozed and it was an agricultural site in the 1960s and 70s. So this could be anything.

 

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[TheCannonballGuy]

Sometimes, to identify an unknown object, we must first eliminate some of the ID possibilities.

I mention the following possibility because you live in the Atlanta area, where civil war artillery activity happened. At first glance, because it is a piece of thick, curved lead "belt" with smooth flat sides, it resembles a broken-off piece of an exploded civil war artillery shell's lead band-sabot. But that cannot be what it is, because the "inner" side of its curved body is "plain," instead of having attachment-ridges or notches needed to attach a lead belt onto the projectile's iron body. Also, does not show any cannon rifling-marks on it, which WOULD be present on a lead band-sabot from a fired artillery projectile.

Another possibility is a broken-off piece of thick lead "pipe-joint seal" from antique cast-iron drainpipe plumbing. I mention that possibility because you said there were buildings on that that spot in the mid-through-late-1800s. Because I worked as a Plumber's helper for about a year, I've seen antique cast-iron drainpipe lead seals. That is what the object you found looks like to me... except, such pipe-seals do not have the knobby projection we see on the outer side of your find. So, I have to discard the second ID-possibility.

I'm sorry that I cannot tell you what the object is. All I can do is tell you two things that it isn't. I hope that helps at least a little bit.

 

[skullshoals]

Hmm, well that's pretty good reasoning. I'm impressed. (And it gave me a couple new things to research and learn about.)
Thanks for taking the time.