If you found them just laying loose under the valve cover, they may just be some "extra" that someone left there when they were working on the engine. If they came off of a valve in the eng. , and missing from the valve stem, then one of the valves would either be stuck in the guide , or the valve would be bouncing off the top of the piston until it fell far enough to damage the piston. either way , the engine would most certainly run rough with a definite "miss" with the spark plug for that cyl. damaged, or at least oil, and fuel fouled. If the keepers were missing the spring, and retainer would also probably come loose and be laying there somewhere. show us a picture of that head with the valve cover off, so we can see what you have.