10-8-11 Privy Dig

[Jim]

Rob and I dug a small privy this past weekend. The pit was only three feet deep, and unfortunately did not have much in it. There was one old aqua slicker bottle, a glass button, some really nice dishware shards and an oddball item that I will post a picture of soon. I have a few pics of the dig as well, and will post them. I would post them now, but I can't find my blasted USB cable to link up my camera. It's here somewhere [&:]

The good thing is, I found another pit at this 1860-1870 house. This one is a stoneliner, and is definitely deeper than three feet. It gets dug this coming weekend, hopefully it produces more than just an aqua slick! Pics of the little pit will probably be posted tomorrow if I can find my USB. It never leaves the house, so I know it's here. ~Jim

 

[Jim]

OK, here are some pics. This is the pit, what little bit of a pit it was. The first layer was coal ash, followed by clay fill. Hard, white clay at 3 feet signaled the bottom [>:]

 

[RICKJJ59W]

Wow they caped a 3 foot pit? they must have been some sick blaztards lol[]
At least your out diggin Jim. I am checking out an 1850s house this weekend.

 

[Jim]

One slicker, a glass button, a piece of a doll head and some nice early dishware fragments were all that this pit held, other than a weird item that is made from a round stone. It had metal attached to it, so I'm guessing it was a weight for something. It can be seen toward the back of the barrel in this pic.

 

[RICKJJ59W]

ORIGINAL: Jim

One slicker, a glass button, a piece of a doll head and some nice early dishware fragments were all that this pit held, other than a weird item that is made from a round stone. It had metal attached to it, so I'm guessing it was a weight for something. It can be seen toward the back of the barrel in this pic.


Hey! that barrel looks familiar []

 

[Jim]

Whazzup, SickRick? Yes, this was a weird pit. I'm not even convinced it was a privy, but I don't know what else it would have been. Not a trash pit, as there was hardly any trash in it. The 1910 Sanborn shows a privy-like "small box" structure right on the spot, and no other features were probed anywhere near it. There were a few other bottle shards, so it was cleaned out at one time.

Here is a closer look at the minuscule contents of the pit. Big stoney gets dug this weekend, hopefully that's where everything is! ~Jim