This puzzling artefact 12 inches long; is iron and wood and weighs 8 pounds; it has a forge-welded end that is slightly duck-billed in shape; it has carriage bolts securing it to a piece of intact wood about 3 inches wide by 4 inches deep. While the wood has broken from a longer piece, the iron bars end where you see them.
It's condition has been preserved by being under the river water for decades.
We found the item earlier this week on the frost-frozen mud flats of the Burnt River [known by some as Stump Lake but once called the Loon Lake Marsh]. It was found after the annual drawdown about one half way between the Gregory Road and the dam and was about 10 feet from shore on the east side of the river.
It has been turned over to the Haliburton Museum where an archaeologist is already busy researching and studying. He will be consulting with another archaeologist who specializes in logging history. And he will also be talking to local loggers, hoping that they may be able to identify the item.
Because Loon Lake has such a rich history in logging we believe the item is somehow related to that industry.
Documentation exists that describes winter horse drawn sleigh activity on the Burnt River as well as huge logging sleigh trains travelling on ice and snow from the Miskwabi and Loon Lake areas to Lochlin. And I learned today while visiting the museum curator that there once was a sawmill on Loon Lake!
And when I left the Museum, I was reminded “no digging” in the area !
Here's a link to an interesting summary of archaeology in Haliburton County:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/73735515/Archaeology-in-Haliburton
If you have any idea what this artefact may be, please contact me either through commenting on my blog or emailing me at mjgrinnell@hotmail.com
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