is this a privy?

[cb0023]

i found 2 of these sites in a line near an old foundation. the dirt appears real soft and i found some red bricks in the first few inches/foot. didnt have time to dig deeper but if you guys can advise on what you think this is i will definetly go back/??

 

[heavy]

ummmmmmmm.....get a probe and DIGGGGGGGGGG

 

[diggerjeff]

im with heavy, i would at least dig a deep test hole and try to probe. dig a test hole on the corner opposite the tree. you might want to sharpen the hand axe!! last week i had to chop thru a three foot layer of roots to get to the bottom of a 6' deep privy. the tree was a bit larger than the one in your pic, but they always slow you down. is that stone or concrete?about what is the dimension ? im guessing by the pic its about 5x7or so. and how thick are the walls? the only other thing that comes to mind is the foundation of a stone chimney, or a small root celler. is there any house or other foundations near?

 

[cb0023]

here is another "privy". this one was about 10 feet away on the same line. there are maybe 3 or 4 very old foundations in this area. there is alot of thick bruch so there may be more. in this pic i dug down about 1 foot and found some red bricks and some glass but it was not old. i will definetly go back i just constructed a probe this evening. i thought maybe some of you guys would be able to tell from looking at the picas to what this is. they measure about 5x5 seem to be made of mostly stone so far..

 

[Matt in NH]

The hole in the second pic is most likely a privy, the hole in the first pic is probably a root cellar or small shed foundation....I would dig both of em to see what time has lost there. You should be able to pull at least a few old bottles outa there.


Matty

 

[cb0023]

thanks guys..keep an eye out for the pics of what down there!

 

[nirvine]

The best way to find out is to dig them!