Is digging this rocky bottle dump worth it?

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PlaneDiggerCam

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For a while I have been digging a bottle dump where 95% of everything is broken from rocks. I am starting to wonder if the farmers dumped rock on everything to keep the cattle from getting hurt. It is a 1850s-1890s dump with pontil shards and drakes bottle shards but nothing that old has been whole. I have only gotten a couple medicines from the 1890s. Should I continue to dig?

-PlaneDiggerCam
 

nhpharm

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Depends on whether or not you have somewhere better to dig! 90% of the dumps I dug in New Hampshire were like this...the same places that were handy for dumping trash were also handy for dumping rocks ploughed up in the fields. Sometimes I found a surprise hiding in those rock piles but more often it was heartbreak after heartbreak.
 

RCO

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I really have no idea , but agree it depends if you have other locations to dig at or not .

if you had any concerns about safety due to the rocks or amount of broken glass I wouldn't keep digging , if that is an issue or not ?

but most farmers didn't throw away a lot of good stuff so its not uncommon to only find broken glass or mini plain corked bottles in such dumps
 

PlaneDiggerCam

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15099974818371199882789.jpg
I do have other dumps but they are 1880s to 1920s era. This is my oldest one however. Thanks for the help and this is a picture of some big criers.
 

nhpharm

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Looks like a standard 1880's-1890's English blackglass beer. The earlier ones have a more "v" shaped base kickup. Nice shards by the way.
 

hemihampton

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For me I'd get very excited to see & dig killer 1850's & 60's shards. Because of that early age I'd keep digging. I always say to myself as long as I dig or leave with one good whole bottle then it was worth it. Also, you'll never know if you could of popped out a nice whole 1850's pontil bottle if you don't try & for me that would nag at me & bother me as I'd be saying to myself, What if, What if I kept going? LEON.
 

sandchip

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I agree. Dig it until it runs out. It doesn't take but one whole bottle to make all the difference in the world. And what if that one whole one is a rare flask, bitters, medicine...I'd go mad wondering what I might've left behind.
 

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