Another new site to find bottles!

[scubabottler]

After some success 2 weeks ago in a state forest I followed up on a neighbors lead about an "old" property way up on a steep hill overlooking our lake. He said there was a well too. It took awhile but I found the well....it's huge! The other two wells I found at other sites were more shallow and narrow. I can fit my fat ass in this one but I don't know about that. I figure I can use the pipe in the well as a direction to where the cabin or barn was? Are wells worth exploring? I will return to take measurements, drop a camera and magnet down there, then plan to metal detect it and surrounding area. Does anyone know why there might be a pipe entering the well from higher up the hill? Kinda looks like a pipe sticking out into the well. Looks too nice for a privy, right? Any suggestions as to how to go about finding a dump or privy? It's overgrown and I spent hours walking around, seeing very little on the surface that wasn't from modern hunters. Maybe someone knows how close cabins typically were to wells? Why it would be on a steep hillside between 2 ravines? Could it be native American related? Or maybe encampment related? Owner said his kids once found a horse skull nearby. Can't wait to metal detect there too for more clues. Any tips on how to proceed would be appreciated, thanks!

 

[hemihampton]

Definitely a well, not a privy. The wells I've seen & dug were mostly filled in with dirt. in a larger city they got running water & indoor plumbing before they did out in sticksville nowhere. SO, They fill these wells in with all the garbage & trash they have & top it off with dirt. if it's still a open well then it's not going to filled with discarded trash & junk but may be some at very bottom. if you could find traces of where the foundation was this may help you find a privy nearby. Good Luck. Leon.

 

[scubabottler]

Thanks Leon! A couple of questions, how far from the well do you think a homesite would have been? I want to create a search grid. If that is a pipe entering through the wall of the well, I assume it points in the direction of where a structure would have been, why would there be a pipe protruding through the side of the well that high and it would appear it is coming from uphill.

 

[scubabottler]

Think I figured it out after sending camera and magnet down 36" diameter x 11.5' well. (nothing but about a foot of water down there).

This whole area was vinyard.....while hillside littered with little 1' lengths of rusty wire. I think this was just a farm well. No evidence whatsoever of any dwelling or people except occasional square nail, shotgun brass etc.