Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Metal Detected Florida Iron Horse Bit. |
I dug this iron snaffle bit several years ago in a trashy area a few miles inland. I remember the hunt very well for some reason. I was using a Tesoro Royal Sabre, and since it was a very trashy area with lot of iron and miscellaneous pieces, I played around with the surface blanking feature, which is one of the few times I ever used that feature. I never determined the age of the bit. It is heavily rusted. I posted it in The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 11/25/19 Report - Horse Tack and Related Finds. Gold Coin Counterfeits and Cautions. High Tides and Flat Surf.
Below is a more recently discoverd bit that is thought to possibly be Viking era.
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| Source: See link below. |
Near a mountain pass, not far from Norway's highest mountain Galdhøpiggen, archaeologists have found traces of horse travel.
A metal bit and parts of the leather straps that fasten around the horse's head have emerged from under the ice.
“The bridle has a shape that suggests it could be from the Viking Age,” Espen Finstad says to sciencenorway.no...
The horse bridle is just one of the discoveries archaeologists have made on this year's expedition.
They also found horse manure, textiles, horseshoes, leaf fodder, part of a horse snowshoe, a knife, and a variety of small wooden objects. Altogether around 150 items.
Viking Age Horse Bridle DiscovHerered Near Norway's Highest Mountain (sciencenorway.no)
It isn't easy for me to tell the age of horse tack, but the one shown immediately above was found with part of the leather harness, which will make it possible to scientifically determine the age.
This following illustration shows a variety of bits.
The illustration shown above is from A Guide to Artifacts of Colonia America, by Ivor Hume. That book also provides a lot of other interesting and helpful artifact illustrations.
The bit shown at the top of that illustration is said to be "possibly quite modern." To my untrained eye, it looks very similar to the one shown in the ScienceNorway article. It will be interesting to find out how old that bit actually is.
Detectorists occasionally dig up items from horse tack - I suspect much more than is realized. It can include hooks and other things. And, of course, it is not uncommon to dig up horseshoes. I've dug those in various locations, including both the Treasure Coast and West Virginia.
Among my horse related finds are crotal bells. I've shown some of those before, including the one shown below, which, by the way was found in the same area as a horseshoe and other related items.
Some items are questionable, such as the following whatzit.
I have a couple thoughts on that find. One possibility, suggested by a reader of this blog, is a bollo tie slide. Then I saw the following picture.
When I saw that harness, the silver item in the middle looked to me very much like the mystery item, so maybe the mystery item is from a harness. I don't know.
Here is a harness pendant that I posted some years ago.
I think dug horse tack is probably often misidentified by detectorists, especially if you have no reason to believe you are digging in an area where there would have definitely been horses.
You might want to browse the Old West Collector web site which shows a variety of antique and vintage spurs and bits, including a few Spanish colonial examples.
Vintage Collectible Old West Bits & Spurs — Old West Collector
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| Source: nhc.noaa.gov. |
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| Surf Chart. Source: SurfGuru.com. |
I have an interesting story for you that I expect to be posting in a few days.
Good hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net
Good hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast/net