Hi all,
some of the “older” forum members might still remember me. Used to post a lot in earlier years but did hardly do any detecting in 2006 and 2007. Now as we have a nice Fall here in Germany I spent a few days out metal detecting and found a few pieces.
NOTE: As html is turned off on this forum you need to click on the link to see the pictures.
My favourite detecting area is a certain patch of woodland, very hilly, and it is very easy to lose orientation.
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Germany is a densely populated country, much more so than the US, and few places are still “wild”. Most forest look quite orderly but this one is an exception. On one of my recon walks I came across this “hut” apparently created by a homeless person. This was just the second time in my 8 years of detecting I found something like that. Note the grill for an occasional BBQ in the foreground.
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Nearby, someone had built a sort of tent on a hilltop. Especially esoteric people like to be in such tents during certain nights in Summer, e.g. the shortest night June 21.
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The area has a good historical background from antiquity over medieval to modern times. Theoretically somewhere here must have been a Roman road 1900 years ago but nobody knows exactly where.
When I started detecting it soon became clear that the area was infested with World War 2 remains. There were many fragments of bombs and shells. The picture shows some of the ubiquitous iron splinters.
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The iron was designed to break leaving sharp edges and they continue to remain so to the present day. The item on the left is what is left of a hexagonal British incendiary bomb. Its thermite filling burned so hot it melted the concrete coating. Today, the molten copper parts of the bomb are covered with green patina. When detectorists find them they think for a second they found a bronze age item burned as a gift to the Gods. Their hearts misses a beat before they realize all they have found is WW2 junk.
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While complete bombs (duds) are fortunately seldom I managed to find two in a single day. The red end is made from steel to penetrate the roof of hit house.
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The area contained no bombing targets. Probably the bombs were aimed at factories several kms distant and missed. Just three finds indicated the presence of German soldiers. An ammo clip for the K98k carbine, a Wehrmacht tent hook produced in 1940 and a K98k round with black head indicating a rare tracer round.
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The only US projectile was this cal. 50 bullet:
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The first historical finds was this thorn spur of the 8. to 12. century and a lance shoe (dark). Not in bad shape for nearly 1000 years in the ground. The small iron pieces on the left were attached to the spur’s leather strap.
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Next came the remains of a muzzle loaded gun of the 18. or early 19. century. Only the 90 cm / 35 “ barrel survived along with possible remains of the buttstock.
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The gun was found in an abandoned hollow way. Find spot in the foreground.
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Next items were a sickle and a knife. While the sickle cannot be dated other than being at least 100 years old I date the knife to be medieval, i.e. 500 to 1500 years old. Modern knifes are common junk finds but this is a nice old piece
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Countless iron bomb fragments later I found this lovely Roman fibula.
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In antiquity and medieval times the button was not invented yet so people used a sort of safety pin called fibula. Fibulas were often expensive pieces and showed the social status of their bearers. The most elaborated have been found in King’s graves. Since they changed their shape with fashion they can be dated very well, almost as good as coins.
This one belonged to a Roman soldier or civil servant of rather low rank and dates to AD 300 to 340. Cleaning is not finished yet. It is made from gold plated bronze and some 6 cm / 2.5” long. While slightly damaged it is in good general condition. Even the pin is intact. That was my first 100% Roman find in this area. It is always a special feeling to be the first person after 1700 years to hold an item and to imagine its last owner and the world he lived in.
The next find was another spur. The wheel type is younger than the thorn type shown above. It might be some 400-500 years old.
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While the exact age of this bronze bell is unknown I think it is at least 500 years old. Its spherical form, however, differs from the known types of antique or medieval (=older than 500 years) bells. Like the other older finds it has been reported to the state archaeologists and maybe they can date it.
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On the last day of September I encountered an iffy signal. With each swing of the coil the conductivity reading changed slightly. This happens when the object is of irregular shape or if its very deep. I dig almost everything since I don’t want to lose small historic iron items like the knife above. So I started to dig. When the hole was 15, 20 and 25 cm / 10 inch deep I pinpointed again. Usually most of my targets are not deeper than 20 cm. The detector insisted the object was right where the hole was. I was suspicious several small objects in the walls might appear like a big one. That way once I dug a deep hole before I noticed I was digging in the center of the rim of a bicycle wheel…
I continued digging wishing I had a spade and not just a gardening digging tool.
At 30 cm my small hand detector finally gave a signal. Some sort of iron ring appeared. I had reached the top of a very deep metal object. To make it short, after one hour and with aching fingers I removed this iron item from the ground some 40-45 cm deep. It is some 20 cm / 8“ long.
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It is a Roman horseshoe – called “hipposandal” - in excellent condition. Buried in the ground for 2000 years and excavated Sept. 30, 2008. The loops were used to tie this shoe to the feet of the horse with a leather strap. I saw such items in literature or museums but never dreamt of finding one myself. No other detectorist I know personally has ever found one. A fantastic end for the detecting month, a great cabinet piece, a good hint to the disappeared Roman road and the best encouragement for detecting in October!
Greetings from Germany.
HH Thorsten from
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