Posted 13 years ago
Farmermike
(1 item)
This will be my 3rd posting but no one can tell me what they are, thought I would try again. These are pics of what I am inquiring about. I actual bought these from old farmstead place in SE Nebraska. The son's were selling items from there fathers farmstead, he was 95 and had been collecting items all his life. These were in a barn buried under other items. I had many inquires off without any luck? The Nebraska State Historical Society and reveiwing with several people came back with this thought -
"I’m sorry to say we’re all still stumped. They don’t look like anything we’ve ever dug up from an archeological site here in Nebraska. One coworker thinks they could be napkin rings from some kind of import store."
Where I found them I am not thinking that is what they are???
They are approx 1-3/8" tall x 1-1/4" wide and the inside dia is 3/4". The impressions are embedded in the pieces and not applied on. They have the look and feel of stone. Thanks for looking and hope someone can figure our what they really are and sovle the mystery? Driving me crazy not knowing!!
Thaks Mike
Some type of large bead, maybe? At one time beads were used a currency. Ceremonial beads? Heck, I don't know, I'm just taking a shot in the dark!
Cast iron decorative bushings of some sort . But old ,very old .
Jack - they are made of some type of stone, it is not clay but more like a brick material. They are not metal so could not be cast iron. I think they are very old also. Thanks for the comments
i love a good mystery like this! could they have been used to incise pottery? try rolling them into moist clay to see what the design looks like. that may give you a good clue as to what they were used for or it might just give you a better look at what the etched symbols are. let us know, please!
the insides look like they are made from clay which has been worked. are they really heavy like stone? can you tell by looking inside them or w/ a large magnifying glass? have you tried rolling them into clay to see what impression they make?