I need the answer to what these are-may be the key to a puzzle.

[Darkflight]

Howdy!

I have had a local spot produce an amazing variety of goodies. It is an iron rich area so hunting is not easy but for example-I have pulled about 100 pieces of cutlery, knife forks spoon variety from this spot. None have been silver. Also many artifacts, rings and military garb items. But I have kept finding these small aluminum tabs folded over the entire area.

This place is not documented as anything but a private estate but my finds say a lot more was going on. Definitely a picnic spot open to public. And I'd wager there was a pond on the property as I have also found split shot & small tackle items. There is not a pond nearby or on any Metzger maps I have come across so I'm wrong or it was private & not documented, later to be filled in.

But I was hoping these tabs might be a real clue as to what the draw was for the area.

All I know is I've done my best to clean it over many years-and it still keeps giving albeit nothing easy.

Hope this is clear enough. They almost always are found folded. They have a variety of styles-almost like pulltabs. But all are similar in shape. Some have folded punched out triangles tip out to grab something? Others have little fold over tabs. Could they have been score keeping cards holders where the paper has just rotted away? And what was the game?

This is important to me so I hope somebody knows.

Thanks!

 

[Larry (IL)]

Look familiar?

 

[chainsmoker]

good eye

 

[Darkflight]

Dang-Sure looks like you nailed it.

I guess the mystery continues as that does not add up to anything I can think of. Other than people brought salt for the picnics.

One other thing unique to this sight is cut up license plates. Usually individual #'s cut out, going back to the early 30's. I've pulled a few nice ones intact.

But I do believe its just part of what I already surmised-lots of picnicking going on.

Thanks!

 

[dave5710]

Salt could be used to put out hot embers from a camp fire. People used salt as a weed killer years ago. If it was a picnic area maybe they were trying to rid the area of poison ivy. I seem to remember something about pouring salt into an ant hill to get rid of the colony too. But if you have found a bunch of those that doesn't make a lot of sense. When I was a kid on the farm we would take bags of cans to the dump and burn everything that would burn. A salt container would burn except for the spout. Is there a lake nearby where people would have done a lot of fishing?