Need help on locating bottles

[chrisboyles]

Ok here is a map showing a layout of a house foundation near my home. Its about a 1/4 mile off a country road and has been undisturbed for years. Directly near the stone foundation on all sides is a layer of ash. 2 FIREPLACE are visible in the north and south ends. To the south west about 100' is a small brick foundation. Prob 6x6'. I doug down about 2-3 feet and was finding ash and burnt timber chunks. To the east of the foundation i have found several glass bottles one of which was a canning lid with a patent from 1851 on the top along with rumsford bottles and numerous clay and ceramic plate shards. Also in a stream i found a intact 2 person tree saw. Here is a map, if someone can look at it and at least give me a starting point to find a privy i would be thankfull. The site is in heavy timber in the woods.

 

[chrisboyles]

Here is a topo of the area for a better look

 

[chrisboyles]

And here is a J.C Sidney map from 1850 showing the same location. I think there may be some good stuff here............

 

[woody]

Sounds like it burned to the ground.
I would concentrate on finding the dump, rather than the privy.
I'd look down the ravines and embankments for possible dump sites.

 

[chrisboyles]

The wierd part is i have walked that house and havnt found any dumps, i even found where they quarryed the stone for the house. Except for the random bottles laying on the ground there is now difinitive evidence of the dump...i know it has to be somewhere though.

 

[woody]

Check across the street from where the foundation is.
Perserverence pays offs, sometimes when you least expext it.
Are you using a metal detector?

 

[chrisboyles]

Across the street are houses, used to be a old farm field. How far away is a dump normally located from the main house. I know sometimes they are relitivly close, but whats the maximum in your expierence? I have used a metal detector in the past, all i was turning up is nails and such...also is a big iron ore area so it can be a pain.

 

[capsoda]

If there is a privy it will probably be out the door and to the north or possibly to the east maybe 50 ft or so.

Woody is right though. I'd be looking hard for the dump. With the ravine and stream so near it has to be near also. I have seen dump sites right out the door and as far away as a mile but the elevations on that map make me think near by.

 

[JGUIS]

Probably the closest steep bank near the back or side of the house. I'd guess if they used the stream, they dumped further downstream than the closest access from the house. I was going to guess the small foundation as possibly the privy. Ya know it wasn't a garage, and it sure as heck wasn't a barn being that small. Not a whole lot left that they would've used a foundation for. I've seen a few multi seaters on farms with big families. I'd also check out the ravine south east of the house, below the group of houses.

 

[akronmarbles]

If you can tell where the water well was located; chances are real good that the privy will be on the opposite side of the house or down hill from the well. People knew better then placing a privy too close to their source of water.