Mukurogirl
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- Jan 5, 2005
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Hi. Sorry that I haven't posted in awhile,but after winter hit it was basically nothing except antique stores for us here in Central PA. I'm in Huntington County which is basically Farm/Hick USA.
Anyways while out on a quick scouting trip with my father we came across this old stone fence,which is actually a cattle fence. The old farmers used to pile up rocks and make huge thick walls out of them. Usually we follow the walls and look for signs of dump piles or foundations along the way. Well we came to the end of the fence and saw this crumbled piece of the wall that looked more like a foundation,but with the fences you can't be sure. Dad spotted a circular pattern of rocks at the edge of the rubble and I went down to dig a test hole
I dug a few inches and pulled out a thick chunk of whitish/yellow clay. I've dug in clay before and it didn't have the texture of this stuff. Clay is usually really loose and slick around here. I would have stopped at that point,but I felt a sort of I dunno..packed texture to the clay. It felt like it had been hardened somehow and it was thicker then the black dirt surrounding it. It was harder to break through with my pick. I spent another fifteen minutes and I found that the looser parts of the packed clay would give way and reveal a peep hole in which I spied more dirt and clay. The outsides of the hole were still lined with black dirt as far down as I went so I suapect it was a man made hole
I've heard about privvies that have been filled with ash and bits of pottery or clay before. The circular hole was lined with rocks and was alot wider then I'd think a privy hole should be,but then again I've never dug a privy before. Could it be an old well of some sort? The thing is...the clay was packed in so tightly that I could have walked right over it and nothing would cave in. None of the ground around the area is like that. I made other test holes. Could it have been a watering hole for the cattle?
Anyways while out on a quick scouting trip with my father we came across this old stone fence,which is actually a cattle fence. The old farmers used to pile up rocks and make huge thick walls out of them. Usually we follow the walls and look for signs of dump piles or foundations along the way. Well we came to the end of the fence and saw this crumbled piece of the wall that looked more like a foundation,but with the fences you can't be sure. Dad spotted a circular pattern of rocks at the edge of the rubble and I went down to dig a test hole
I dug a few inches and pulled out a thick chunk of whitish/yellow clay. I've dug in clay before and it didn't have the texture of this stuff. Clay is usually really loose and slick around here. I would have stopped at that point,but I felt a sort of I dunno..packed texture to the clay. It felt like it had been hardened somehow and it was thicker then the black dirt surrounding it. It was harder to break through with my pick. I spent another fifteen minutes and I found that the looser parts of the packed clay would give way and reveal a peep hole in which I spied more dirt and clay. The outsides of the hole were still lined with black dirt as far down as I went so I suapect it was a man made hole
I've heard about privvies that have been filled with ash and bits of pottery or clay before. The circular hole was lined with rocks and was alot wider then I'd think a privy hole should be,but then again I've never dug a privy before. Could it be an old well of some sort? The thing is...the clay was packed in so tightly that I could have walked right over it and nothing would cave in. None of the ground around the area is like that. I made other test holes. Could it have been a watering hole for the cattle?