ynnek4
Senior Member
Hi,
I was recently detecting and happened upon what I believe to be my first privy/trash pit. Upon digging the hole I heard that unmistakable sound of metal hitting glass and after digging some iron out of the hole I noticed another bottle and then another and then another. After continuing to dig out broken bottle after broken bottle (about a Home Depot bucket full) I finally was able to find a complete undamaged one (as well as a small white milk glass "Mentholatum" jar). This was my first ever embossed cork top bottle so I was very excited. I have only dug about 2 feet deep and about 2-3 wide. The land owner allowed me to cover the hole up and come back this weekend to further dig. I have some questions to the more experienced diggers:
Is it safe to assume this is indeed a privy and not a "one time" localized small trash pit? With the appearance of the lime be indicative of a privy? It is very thick inside the hole. Also, I am digging out some pieces of brick and broken ceramic dishes
How should I continue to dig? Is there a rule of thumb with this? Should I maybe mark out 6' by 6' square over the current hole and just dig that out?
How deep did privies tend to go? The first bottles I found were only about 1 foot under ground. As I kept going to the side I kept discovering bottles (which seemed like a good sign).
There was a 1900'ish house that stood in very close proximity to this hole. I would assume this helps the chances of this being a a long term privy. I have also found a Barber quarter, a Seated dime, a V Nickel (my avatar), and 4 Indians close by.
I realize there may not be an exact science to this but I figured it didn't hurt to ask. I do have access to a probe so that is an option as well.
Any other pointers would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
I was recently detecting and happened upon what I believe to be my first privy/trash pit. Upon digging the hole I heard that unmistakable sound of metal hitting glass and after digging some iron out of the hole I noticed another bottle and then another and then another. After continuing to dig out broken bottle after broken bottle (about a Home Depot bucket full) I finally was able to find a complete undamaged one (as well as a small white milk glass "Mentholatum" jar). This was my first ever embossed cork top bottle so I was very excited. I have only dug about 2 feet deep and about 2-3 wide. The land owner allowed me to cover the hole up and come back this weekend to further dig. I have some questions to the more experienced diggers:
Is it safe to assume this is indeed a privy and not a "one time" localized small trash pit? With the appearance of the lime be indicative of a privy? It is very thick inside the hole. Also, I am digging out some pieces of brick and broken ceramic dishes
How should I continue to dig? Is there a rule of thumb with this? Should I maybe mark out 6' by 6' square over the current hole and just dig that out?
How deep did privies tend to go? The first bottles I found were only about 1 foot under ground. As I kept going to the side I kept discovering bottles (which seemed like a good sign).
There was a 1900'ish house that stood in very close proximity to this hole. I would assume this helps the chances of this being a a long term privy. I have also found a Barber quarter, a Seated dime, a V Nickel (my avatar), and 4 Indians close by.
I realize there may not be an exact science to this but I figured it didn't hurt to ask. I do have access to a probe so that is an option as well.
Any other pointers would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!