Something Lower Campanian

[AgrilusHunter]

Right so I was way off the first time. It's cordite! probably WW2 in origin. This stuff is amazing that it still burns like that after sitting on a beach for so long. Really neat Artyom, thanks for posting such a cool mystery!

image source

Edited January 1, 2013 by AgrilusHunter

[Auspex]

is the answer.

Oh my!

I think it is unlikely that these are ceramic, or were made to be insulators!

There is no doubt in my mind that they are man made, but I can only guess at their purpose. Something related to blasting, perhaps? Fireworks?

[Auspex]

Right so I was way off the first time. It's cordite! probably WW2 in origin....

Posted while I was struggling at expressing my speculations! Good job!

[Artyom]

AgrilusHunter, you have surprized me .

How, HOW did you get that info?!

[AgrilusHunter]

Hi Artyom,

Ha! Google and I are old friends. Like Auspex I figured this had to be a charge of some kind. The only thing I could think of was some kind of solid propellant charge like a nitrocellulose charge (cordite and other similar charges). A little googling found the rest. I don't know enough about this stuff though to ID it beyond what I've said so far.

They still make stuff like this by the way, you can even buy it here. So who knows if your finds are really from WW2, but as long as the site is remote and there aren't folks heading out there to shoot of custom rockets and stuff its likely been there a while. The charges were designed to be super stable so they could take large amounts of them on big naval ships without too much risk, this probably explains why they still function so well. Here is some more information about these types of naval propellants.

Edited January 1, 2013 by AgrilusHunter

[Herb]

VERY cool ID!

[dragonsfly]

Thumbs up AgrilusHunter. I give up.

I've set one of these on fire - it burns like a gunpowder.

Just curious, when they started to produce such stuff?

It also rules out ceramic, does it not ? An item fired to even as low as cone three would not be flameable. Phosphorus or sulphur composite ?? What color does it burn?

[Coco]

Hi,

What is "OT" please ? Don't forget there are a lot of foreigners on this international forum !

Coco

[Artyom]

Hello Coco!

OT is "off topic" I think.

[Indy]

Social networking abbreviations

drive me a little nuts also ...

[Auspex]

Since we are an international forum, and there is no Google Translator for "Twitter-speak", clarity of meaning needs trump speed of entry. As second nature as the customary internet abbreviations and acronyms have become, members already needing to use a translator are sometimes stymied by them (not to mention the likes of Indy and myself, who are a bit behind the times).

Not a requirement, just a courtesy to be mindful of.

[Coco]

Hi,

Thanks Auspex ! And thanks to Artyom too for the translation !

As many of other members, I use an automatical translator to be able to read this forum. And about "OT", the translator says "Old Testament" that is the part of the Christian Bible which speaks about the life before the birth of Jesus. Thus it means nothing in the context...