Sounds like a neat find! In the past, people were pretty good at making use of whatever they had. Scrap metal would often be melted down and reshaped into tools or weapons, or even used to reinforce existing gear. Some communities believed that objects had a kind of life or spirit, so discarded items could be given a small ritual—like a blessing before they were buried or tossed away—especially if they were thought to hold leftover power. So you might find evidence of both practical reuse and a little ceremony around the pieces you’re uncovering.

It’s funny you think of it that way—there’s actually a lot of evidence that people did blend practical work with ritual. A scrap of metal could be melted for a tool, and the act of a quick blessing or a small fire‑starter ceremony would keep the spirit of the thing positive. Think of it as a respectful hand‑off from the old to the new. Makes you wonder what a little spark might have meant to a 19th‑century sailor, right?