what caused this?
 

Intentional or wear - related?
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4014/...40a2ea80_b.jpg
Seller has no clue.

If you're asking "what's wrong with this picture?" then I have no clue. I don't see anything wrong. Wear, if any, will be on the inside races. Gimme hint?

I think the problem is the shape of the hole where the spindle would normally come through.

those sort of irregular scooped out areas around the spindle hole, are they factory or something someone did with a file, or caused by wear and tear?

Almost looks like damage from an easy out type of thingy or maybe a reamer of some sort? It almost looks like there are ridges in there...

Here is the other side:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2683/...7e15b742_b.jpg
ridges are the norm for campy NR thick cups?

Aren't some Campy cups "rifled" or "threaded" where the spindle goes through?

That's exactly it. The hole is, as you say, "rifled" or "threaded" so the rotation of the spindle (when pedaling forward) drives dirt and stuff out, rather than in. Look at the cup from an oblique angle and it's pretty obvious.

Yes, now I think the "scoops" are just where the spiraled rifling ends around the cup. They show up in this pic too, just not as pronounced:
http://i.ebayimg.com/07/!BnFSpow!Wk~...)EjD4!~~_3.JPG

I think its normal...

I do too, now. It just looked weird at first.

It's totally normal. The threads make it difficult for dirt to work its way in.

Correct. I was baffled the first time I saw one like that, but I couldn't say much against it it - it was NOS.

-Kurt

Mine are rifled and they don't have those pronounced scallops.

I think that there are six parallel grooves, and the pitch of these (how much axial distance for a complete revolution) is six times the axial distance between adjacent grooves; so, they all terminate simultaneously at the exterior. The grooves may be machined so that they don't actually extend all the way to the interior face of the cup -- that would make sense for a helical “seal”: keep lubricant in, conduct crud out.

I started out curious, ended up overwhelmed.

well whatever, the BB is mine now.