what is this

[cyberdigger]

Sure, I'd be delighted by that! I'll send you a private message..

 

[cyberdigger]

Well Rodney was kind enough to send this piece up to the cyber lab for inspection, and here's what I've come up with.. it is definitely the base of a European 3-piece mold ale with a kicked up base. The metal tubular object goes up through the base, quite close to center, and my best guess is that it was a forceful penetration from outside, from being thrown into a dump or from something striking it in a dump context. The metal tube seems to be iron, a tad over 1/4" outside diameter and the hole in the middle about 1/8", including rust...

 

[cyberdigger]

Here's the bottom view.. a good amount of rusty sediment surrounds the tube on this side, so it's impossible to see the details of the hole in the glass.. the only reason this might be important is because of a 2nd suspicion I have, born perhaps purely out of imagination, that the presence of this object is the result of a base kicking operation gone awry..

 

[THOMAS1967]

Amazing that it didn`t break the base on impact.[8|]

 

[cyberdigger]

Here's the base of a different bottle, but exactly the same type.. the base was kicked up by an object that left a mark similar in size and shape to the mystery tube.. hmmm.. so other than just calling it a freak occurrence in the trash pile, this is all I can think up; that somehow a kick-up tool was accidentally poked through the hot glass and became lodged in the bottle during finishing. Why would it survive a trip to Louisiana? Good question.. I would need to remove the rusty sediment from the bottom to see exactly where the object penetrates.. if it's exactly on center, my suspicions will linger..

 

[THOMAS1967]

Good detective work so far.Are you gonna remove the rusty sediment and continue your investigation.[X(]

 

[cyberdigger]

I haven't decided yet.. I'm leaving it as is for now, in case someone else wants me to send it their way..

 

[AntiqueMeds]

from your excellent photo it appears the metal was inserted after the bottle cooled.
There seems to be a conical pressure crater around the metal on the inside.
These sometimes occure when drilling glass and a bit too much pressure is applied.
My guess is they were re-using the bottle for some sort of brewing/dispensing/chemical/etc setup and needed to attach a hose to the bottom.
They may have filled around that hose ferrule with tar or some other sealant. In any case it would need to be sealed with something since after the hole was poked it probably wasnt a good water/air seal.

 

[cyberdigger]

So then I suppose the bottom should be cleaned out to see if there is any evidence of a drilled hole or not.. the top of the base inside was definitely blown off either way by this..

 

[Plumbata]

Hard to say, but the rust "signature" of the metal bit sticking out of the bottom versus the metal tube protruding on the inside seems different. Looks like the bit sticking out of the base was exposed longer than the internal bit.

From my perspective, it looks like the tube had been lodged in the glass, and only after years of expansion due to rusting did it pop off the conical section on the inside.