my first Excavation...any tips?

[scoobis]

tomorrow i start my first real excavation at 10 O'clock....Its on my property at where i think was either a small dump, or a privy. Any suggestions for a young new digger? The deepest i've gone was about two feet, but i dont know what to do after that. Any suggestions would be Awesome.

Thanks,

P.S. Wish me luck

Scoobis

 

[maineahh62]

hello scoobis, here is a link to a past post i think you will enjoy, lot's of good reading for you, and good luck.

 

[mysecrets88]

Hello,
I started my first privy last week. I am 40 and I must tell you it was a little tough on the old back. I am going to bring a digging partner back with me next week so we can do a bucket and rope shuffle. It will pay off in the end but from what I have learned and what others have told me. Dig down even, find the walls and remove dirt fully around, this is to prevent any cave ins. never work a site alone, or at least never go down to far, starting off the first 2 feet I was alone but there was no danger. you will see as you remove large surface stones that there are gaps which can be dangerous to you, catch a leg in a sink hole and you are stuck in a privy. not a glamorous place to be. I have been working 2 old sites 1790's- 20th cent. 1 site has about 7 privys I can see and there are 2 deep wells. The other site has at least 3 visible sites. I have encountered very large stone within the first 2 feet in both sites so far, as they dig a new privy close to the old one they would fill the old one with the new dig items and large rocks make a great filler. B every careful if you find old wells as they present real dangers. Never work a well alone. One more piece of advice, save some of the dirt for the garden, this is some great soil, the worms have turned it into black gold.
Good luck and post any finds, I will hopefully post some pictures next week from a labor of love.
Pat

 

[deepwoods]

Scoobis-Read carefully through the digging and finding archives-theres many great, informative posts and a ton of useful tips.Good luck!