So far we have had pictures of people metal detecting but not any of the recovery process. Picture 1 shows Michael Thornton, an intern from Urbana University, carefully removing soil from the location of a metal detector hit. After a sample is shown to contain metal, it is placed on a plastic tray and divided in half until the metal item is revealed (picture 2). In this case it is what appears to be a .45 caliber musketball (picture 3). Michael was the first person in approximately 250 year to hold this item. The next question is why was it in this location? Was a Miami home or trader cabin in the vicinity and being fired upon or was this fired in defense? It is hoped that further research will address questions like this.
