Found in Virginia

[Lia]

Hi y'all! I'm new here! I love antiques, but I'm new to learning about war stuff. I'm not sure if this is the best place to ask this, but I was walking through Mount Hebron historical cemetery in Winchester, VA and I found something sticking up from the ground. I was hoping someone here might have information on it. I don't know much about the history of Winchester. I found it not far from the ruins of an old Lutheran church that was used as barracks during the Revolutionary War. I first noticed it in the ground because I thought it looked like a bullet, but I picked it up and it is 2" in length. Again, I know next to nothing about war stuff so any information would be nice! Thanks in advance!

 

[scooter748driver]

Welcome from the Fort Sumter and the Fredericksburg forums.

 

[JOHN42768]

Welcome, enjoy

 

[DixieRifles]

Can you determine what material it is? Almost looks plastic. Or bone with some machining.
I know you dont want to damage it but can you tell how hard it is?

 

[Lia]

Can you determine what material it is? Almost looks plastic. Or bone with some machining.
I know you dont want to damage it but can you tell how hard it is?

It's definitely not plastic, I think it's possibly clay maybe? I'm not sure how to tell how hard it is without damaging it.

 

[Seduzal]

Welcome to CWT from the Smoky Mountain side of North Carolina. Just jump right in and enjoy. To get a better overview of these form s you can look here: https://civilwartalk.com/forums/

 

[Sowbelly and Hardtack]

Welcome to the forum @Lia.

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

Welcome! We love a good mystery

 

[Lia]

Thanks, everyone! The historic cemetery is full of gophers. They've dug holes all around the cemetery and this object may be something they dug up.

 

[Lampasas Bill]

Here's a guess: since it was found in a cemetery, could it have been a flower holder? I have seen metal ones in some cemeteries.

 

[Patrick H]

Hi, Lia, and welcome to CivilWarTalk. I thought your found object looked like clay when I saw it from way over here in central Missouri, but I don't know what it is. I like Lampasas Bill's guess best so far. Could be the broken base of a vase. But it would have been on some kind of ring stand. Or maybe it could be stuck directly into the earth and then flowers put in. Anyway, put it on your bookshelf or mantle where it can be a conversation starter!

 

[Lia]

Here's a guess: since it was found in a cemetery, could it have been a flower holder? I have seen metal ones in some cemeteries.

Thanks! You could be right. The cemetery has some very old graves nearby the church ruins where I found the object. There's even graves from the 1700's.

The cemetery is pretty large and also includes the Stonewall Confederate Cemetery, where there was a battle.

I hope y'all don't mind me adding extra photos for everyone to see. The cemetery is pretty cool. Anyone in the area should consider checking it out sometime!

 

[Lia]

Hi, Lia, and welcome to CivilWarTalk. I thought your found object looked like clay when I saw it from way over here in central Missouri, but I don't know what it is. I like Lampasas Bill's guess best so far. Could be the broken base of a vase. But it would have been on some kind of ring stand. Or maybe it could be stuck directly into the earth and then flowers put in. Anyway, put it on your bookshelf or mantle where it can be a conversation starter!

Thanks! I will put it on my shelf next to the civil war era clay marble I found in my backyard