Finding the privy/money spot?

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Newtothiss

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So a new spot I'm metal detecting has a big old dump down the bank behind where a house was.
There is literally 1000's of bottles..
The area is probably 100'x100' (ish) with a few big piles and lots scattered all over. So far the oldest stuff has been from the late 50's, but the lot had a home since the early 1900's, and is not far from where there was an actual dump.

Any ideas on what I should look for to dig down to the oldest stuff?
Under one of the big piles and just see how deep it goes?

There is a creek behind the the lot about 50'-100' behind the dump site.
Didn't take the metal detector today as I was just digging and trying to get the lay of the land, I'll take it tomorrow though.

Any help/ideas?

Found some milk glass jars, cool soda, milk, bleach and ammonia bottles, and a "sani steel" washboard today!

I'll post some pics tomorrow
 

Newtothiss

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This is the coolest thing that came up today. Gotta figure out how to clean it properly..
Pretty sure there's more too!
 

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CanadianBottles

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If it's a rural house then the privy likely won't have much in it, those were hard work to dig and you wouldn't want to fill it up any quicker than you had to. Finding the dump from before the mid-20th century is tough because rural people generally didn't throw out all that much before the postwar economic boom, so the earlier dumps are very small. It could be under the newer dump or somewhere else, but not far enough from the house that they would have needed to drive to dump things. The creek is a good place to look, also along any hillsides or hedgerows. You can try metal detecting for areas with a big concentration of iron as well. Generally a good thing to do is to imagine that you're living there 100 years ago, and ask yourself where you'd throw the trash.
 

Newtothiss

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If it's a rural house then the privy likely won't have much in it, those were hard work to dig and you wouldn't want to fill it up any quicker than you had to. Finding the dump from before the mid-20th century is tough because rural people generally didn't throw out all that much before the postwar economic boom, so the earlier dumps are very small. It could be under the newer dump or somewhere else, but not far enough from the house that they would have needed to drive to dump things. The creek is a good place to look, also along any hillsides or hedgerows. You can try metal detecting for areas with a big concentration of iron as well. Generally a good thing to do is to imagine that you're living there 100 years ago, and ask yourself where you'd throw the trash.
Thanks!
There is soooo much down there (mostly glass)
 

Newtothiss

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Is that Twang Soda a 12 ounce or Quart, can't tell from the Picture? The Quart will usually have a Red Football at his foot. Nice find, If you find more cans I may be Interested. LEON.

Pic of some of mine below.View attachment 232305View attachment 232306
It's a 32oz. This one has a dent and a piece of the lip is gone. I don't
16379912647323553027475146213345.jpg
16379913553934382908486412666834.jpg
think there is a football, it's pretty rusty at the moment, I'll be interested to see how she cleans up.

I think there are some more at the spot, I'll find out in the AM..

VERY NICE BTW!
 

PlaneDiggerCam

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So a new spot I'm metal detecting has a big old dump down the bank behind where a house was.
There is literally 1000's of bottles..
The area is probably 100'x100' (ish) with a few big piles and lots scattered all over. So far the oldest stuff has been from the late 50's, but the lot had a home since the early 1900's, and is not far from where there was an actual dump.

Any ideas on what I should look for to dig down to the oldest stuff?
Under one of the big piles and just see how deep it goes?

There is a creek behind the the lot about 50'-100' behind the dump site.
Didn't take the metal detector today as I was just digging and trying to get the lay of the land, I'll take it tomorrow though.

Any help/ideas?

Found some milk glass jars, cool soda, milk, bleach and ammonia bottles, and a "sani steel" washboard today!

I'll post some pics tomorrow
I found a farm dump that was all 1960s and 1970s, or so I thought. I didn't find anything else that day and decided to dig deep to see how old it got since it was on a hill side and kind of bulged out. Well I got down about a half foot and became glad I decided to do a test pit. it started to get into the 40s, then 30s and then soon it was straight 1800s, then bottom! I pulled many great early meds, beers, jars and sodas and even a broken Weston saratoga and teal peppersauce. Sometimes you just need to dig a test pit and not write newer stuff off right away becuase of instances like this.
 

Newtothiss

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I found a farm dump that was all 1960s and 1970s, or so I thought. I didn't find anything else that day and decided to dig deep to see how old it got since it was on a hill side and kind of bulged out. Well I got down about a half foot and became glad I decided to do a test pit. it started to get into the 40s, then 30s and then soon it was straight 1800s, then bottom! I pulled many great early meds, beers, jars and sodas and even a broken Weston saratoga and teal peppersauce. Sometimes you just need to dig a test pit and not write newer stuff off right away becuase of instances like this.

I don't think I'll find anything that old there.
The road has been there since the turn of the century, and the first house on the lot was around 1910.
There is a whole lot to dig though, and some serious piles to move.

I wish it wasn't pouring on the days I can really get at it..
 

Newtothiss

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Is that Twang Soda a 12 ounce or Quart, can't tell from the Picture? The Quart will usually have a Red Football at his foot. Nice find, If you find more cans I may be Interested. LEON.

Pic of some of mine below.View attachment 232305View attachment 232306
At least 2 dozen cone tops today, all were so rusted that they crumbled with minimal pressure .
I know there's more in there, hopefully as nice or nicer than the "twang", just gotta find em'.
 

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