Yay! It's time for another round of Neatorama's guessing game, in collaboration with the always intriguing What is it? Blog. Can you guess what this strange object is for?
More photos (and clues about its size) at What is it? Blog. Contest rule is darned simple: place your guess in the comment, post no URL (let others play), and one guess per comment. You can submit multiple comments. No prize this week, just bragging rights.
Good luck!
[Update 8/31/07: Here's the answer:
These are horn weights for a bull. To keep bulls from seriously injuring each other when fighting, these weights were placed on the horns to make the ends point downward. They were also used to fix mismatched horns, where one horn grew slightly higher than the other. If a horn weight was left on for just a few weeks, it would easily change the higher horn's angle of growth. Modern versions can be seen here.
do i win? :D
Seriously looks like a smelting pot though.
Straight out of T2 or AotC.
the hole on the back's for the fuse.
So it might be a piece on an old locomotive, but I have no idea where it would go or what purpose it would serve. Maybe someone else does.
Incidently, can anyone make out all the letters on the other side? S T L (something) K O ? or maybe the K is an R or an &. I cant really make out the letter before if there is one.