More strange stuff on the bottom

[Diver1111]

Hi All,

A few days ago I was diving for something I'm looking for in middle of Meredith Bay and came across the object in the photos attached.

- The 1st 2 photos are of "similar" looking material I found in about 40 feet off Garnet Point in Moultonboro a few years ago. As I recall readers couldn't help then with what it was which is of course not a surprise. In these photos it's the same object but one shot is of what I could call the top and one shot is of the bottom. It reminded me a bit of a pastry you'd buy in a bakery. I find the striations interesting giving a hint as to how it was formed.

- The next photos are of what I found recently in Meredith. Again top and bottom photos. The beige color is what I would call the top (face up) while the rest are of the bottom forming a cup shape. This object weighs about 1 pound maybe 2 at the most.

In both cases it is apparent to me that at one time both of these objects were molten/hot/soft/pliable until they hit the water. I'm thinking perhaps they represent a bi-product of a steamer burning coal...? I know steamers would dump ash etc. through a hole in the side of the vessel to get rid of it but this stuff has me baffled. I don't know how ash could form what I found.

And what's up with the generally circular shape and similar size (6-7" across) to all of them?

With the Meredith location readers might find it interesting to know that the area I found this sample in has hundreds of these scattered all over as if they rained down from the surface. They are everywhere in a radius of at least 40 feet.

As to the photos I assume they will post in the order I uploaded them-first 2 should be of Moultonboro find.

I think I'll send the photos to the state archaeologist. Any help in figuring out what this stuff is would be appreciated.

[8gv]

How thick is the object in the first photo?

[Descant]

These look like "clinkers" to me. In my youth we had commercial greenhouses steam heated by coal-fired boilers. Coal was loaded into a hopper with a front loading tractor, then fed into the furnace via an auger at the bottom. As the coal burned, it formed what we called clinkers on top of the fire. A few times a day, depending on weather, the furnace doors were opened and with a 10' iron rake, the clinkers were pulled out onto a steel table. When they cooled, they were hand shoveled into a wheelbarrow and taken outdoors. In the spring they were spread over the dirt roads to the fields. They crumbled under the weight of the tractor and made a nice surface. Limited other uses. Remember "cinder blocks" and cinder tracks for competitive running? And cinders on RR tracks?

I could see steamboats offloading clinkers as they came into port before they banked the fires for the night. And maybe broke them int a size easily managed by a chute or conveyor.
Just a guess without actually handling the product.

Aside: Around 1955-60 the flower growing industry in NE started converting to oil so there was no need to pay a fireman, just as RR started going from steam to diesel. When oil went from $8/ bbl to $14/bbl the NE flower growing industry started shutting down and most flowers are now shipped in.

[Diver1111]

8gv the height or thickness if you will, is approx. 1.5" of the first one in the pictures.

I also checked to see if any of the latest find was magnetic-no.

What I want to know besides what they are is, how did they form?

[Grant]

HH --

Perhaps those are related to the items found in this post?

https://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/showpost.php?p=195431&postcount=12

I dove the site in the video, and found lots more of the "pot"-like items (none as intact as Brad's, and other pieces with concentric circles like one of your shots shows.

Just a thought...

[Diver1111]

Grant I don't think they are related but all of them are really interesting, esp. the pot-like formations that Senter Cover Guy was asked to take down. Those items sure looked like they were man-made to me but apparently not.