First 6" of the Privy a little Help please.

[Bert DeWitt]

I went out yesterday to scout for some privies, I found them all without any problems which was nice but I have done extensive research on the locations. I noticed one of the privies had a lot of visible bits of trash so I decided to dig, about 6" down through bits of glass metal and brick I found coal and ash. Then out popped this little ink! Can anyone help me with it's age, it has a smooth bottom no makers mark. I stopped digging because it was getting late and it's raining today.[>:][attachment=ink09102014.jpg][attachment=ink209102014.jpg]

 

[westKYdigger]

Bert,If the side seams don't go over the lip, it is probably turn of century +/- 20 years. If you got this in the first 6" & have ash & coal that close to the top, you might be in a shallow trash pit. Occasionally, homeowners would have a separate pit for ash & 'clinkers' (burnt coal). Lookin good.

 

[westKYdigger]

Forgot to ask, do you have a probe?

 

[Bert DeWitt]

Thats how I was dating it the top is not seamed. I know about trash pits, I probed several location this is definitely the privy. I thought it odd for this to be right on top thats why I said something about it.

 

[westKYdigger]

It might have been a 'late throw', sitting on a shelf for years until someone decided to clean house. I've been thinking about your area. I know when we drive through Springfield, I see a lot of rock outcroppings & have always thought that digging a deep privy would be difficult because of the rock. You might be running into some shallow, multiple privies on each lot, depth dependent on when they hit rock. How deep did this one probe?Tim

 

[Bert DeWitt]

I know what you're saying I've done my share of digging around here very rockie. I was probing five feet easily I could feel debris and locate sides.

 

[Bert DeWitt]

It's going to be nice this weekend and I plan to go I'll send you some pics.

 

[westKYdigger]

Sounds great. Have a good time. This first one will probably be a good indication of the rest in that area.Tim

 

[hampy]

hi tim,with the privy's that I read so much about on this forum do you find them in only rural areas or in built up areas as well and we are talking pit toilets aren't we ?,thanks rob.

 

[westKYdigger]

There are a lot of names for them. Privies, out-houses, pit toilet, etc. We could probably have a contest on this forum for all the different names from all over the world. I'm sure others will chime in on this. In my experience and research, they are easier to find in older urban areas in the U.S. Prior to sanitary sewers, every dwelling would have to have somewhere to dispose of human waste, so everybody had a privie. The historical time line moving from privies to sewers varies by the size of the community. By necessity, larger cities developed sewers earlier. I think my town is typical. Established in the 1860's; had out houses until turn of century; these were replaced by septic tanks in the early 1900's, which were replaced by sanitary lines in the 1920's. We were a 'progressive' town and had an ordinance from the 1880's requiring everyone to have their privie cleaned out once a year. I'm still looking for the original town dumping area. In rural areas, there may have been privies to a later date, but we find more in farm dumps than in privies. They had more room to dispose of their non-flammable trash. Hoped this helped