DetectingWales.com

Hi everybody,
I'm new to this game, but have access and permission to a large area of land with much history so have finally gotten around to purchasing a detector.
So far I have found these things at a depth of around 4 inches -
Can anybody help me identify them? {EDIT} The long brooch type thing at the bottom of the picture is made of silver (tested a small filing from it)
The small tortoise thing was originally very black until I polished it in my hand for a while.
The same with the pig - it was in a small broken clay pot, which was in many small pieces.
Any help would be appreciated, I am not in-the-know -  but I do know that Pre-Roman (Silurean) sites existed on the land, as well as a Roman fort and a several Georgian properties.

Thanks in advance,
Fisher.

They look like modern fake figurines to me...

Welcome to DW Arfish ;)
Well they're certainly different from the norm ??? You say you have tested the turtle item have you tried just silver foil and water to test for silver sulphide ? as I know it's probably just the colour balance but putting it through Photoshop I can't make it look silver. As to what it is ummm? I can't see anything that looks like fixing points so I think showing it to your local FLO would be the best bet.
The "pig" if that's what it  is is an odd one as it has tusks which are emerging from it's face and that makes me think it's meant to be an elephant, once again the colour looks more like brass which would mean it's probably not that old, you might have been better off collecting some of the broken pot as it could have been more diagnostic.
The bottom item does have the classic Roman pelta design and could be a Roman belt mount though the casting ribs still being attached makes me think modern or unfinished :-\

As Geoff said it's a bit difficult to see any silver among these items, What did you test it with ?To my untrained eye they do have a look of being reproductions as the casting looks to good. I suppose the " pig " could be trying to represent a wild boar, but as I said this is only MY opinion and I might be totally wrong. What color was the pottery ? how big were the pieces ? can you get a few pieces
to post pics? What part of the country did you find them ? The land you've got sounds really good have you checked to see if it's been classed as SSSI. The reason I'm asking all these questions is because these finds if correct could be very important.
                             
                                        By the way, welcome to the DW Forum Arfish ;)

I thought maybe a boar but they usually have a ridge along their back and their tusks are actually enlarged teeth which come out of their mouth........Strange Dylan I had you marked down as someone who would of known all there was to know about boars ;D........just me then :-[

Ha ha ha ha ha Boars? Boars ? I thought you said Wh*res ;D ;D

I just edited the original post, I actually meant that the bottom piece (brooch) was the one
That had been tested - A silver acid test done by a friend's dad who is a jeweller.
It's very soft, almost bendable.

Also I should mention (shudder) that I did somewhat 'clean' the pig and turtle, something I maybe shouldn't have done... I rubbed them between my fingers for a long time so that I could see the colour of the metal underneath - originally both were black.
The pot was also black... it was smashed somewhat when I found it, and inside was earth and the pig itself.
I can go back and get the pieces for a photograph, I can't reassemble it though, it was very fragile.
I've been asked kindly by the landowner not to give the location, but it had a roman 'lookout post' that is recognised,
And also two quite large Edwardian houses, one still standing.

When I asked what part of the country, I didn't  mean postcode lol , just a rough idea . e.g North, South ,East ,West
Wales ,England, Scotland, Ireland .If these finds are genuine then they need to be recorded and as Geoff said you should show
them to your nearest Finds Liason Officer, A,S.A.P.

I was trying to google FLO, thanks for clearing that up I wasn't sure!
They are from South Wales in the general vicinity of Caerleon.

Oh well as someone who originally comes from Cwmbran and spent a great deal of my early detecting years around Caerleon and after DW having 3 rallies in the area I can almost guarantee that they have sod all to do with the Romans ;D :D

Ha ha! Yes, i've seen plenty of roman things in museums, and these don't look like them - I'm just wondering what they are and why they were in the ground!

Hello Arfish and welcome.   Let me, once again restore a little sanity to the conversation  ::)

The Turtle is almost certainly a pendant and is there something stamped on the loop ?  The Boar, and I don't think it can be anything else, is very stylised so could be fairly modern. I thought maybe 1960, ish.

The ornate metal work could  be furniture related, maybe.   All in all, some very interesting finds. Here's to more.

Val

I think in all the time I used to spend near there I found a grand total of 3 coins, there must be some good area's (if they're not built on) but I never found them, but your items could well be worth checking out with the FLO and yours is

Mark Lodwick
Finds Liaison Officer - Wales
Department for Archaeology & Numismatics, National Museums & Galleries of Wales Cathays park Cardiff Wales CF10 3NP
Work T: 02920 573226
Fax: 02920 667320
E: mark.lodwick@nmgw.ac.uk


PS. I still think it's a elephant  ;D

I think it looks more like a Warthog  ::)   

Val

It's a bl**dy wild boar I tell you ;D ;D

Thanks for the contacts details, I will email the FLO today.

The objects appear to look to  clean ,after being the ground for 2000yrs and they look  like objects of tourist market from Africa or India ...My dad fought out in Burma with the Chindits and he brought back a lot of gear made out of brass and copper ..Rob

elephant ha , wild boar ha ha , pig my a### , its a CLANGER  , you guys know nothing  :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

In regards to them looking clean, that was my doing - I polished them (bad idea I now know).
I've mailed the FLO and he has asked to see them. Be interested to see if he has any info on them, be they old or new!

CLANGER ??? I bet you've dropped a few of them ;D

Its an ARDVARK!