New to bottle finding

[SeaGoat]

I have come across bottles in my wooded ventures but never thought anything of it.
I've now got a hankering

I live in Georgia and my area is pritty much the infamous red Ga clay. There are parts you can't dig down more than an inch.

In the woods i know it'll be different due to the forest decay, but Im still wondering how deep Im going to need to dig in this area.

I see some of yall talking about going 3+ feet deep.

I was actually watching a youtube video of some people bottle hunting here in Georgia. They were just using bow rakes to pull back the first few layers and finding all kinds of stuff.

In general how deep do you need to dig in Georgia to start finding bottles?

 

[sunrunner]

Hi , well to answer your question , it all depends on whether the folks who put it there just thru it on the ground or filled in a riven or a ditch .or even dug a hole and filled it in . I would get a probe and feel around if you go down a few inches then it's a serf us dump . Georgia is like any place ells , it all depends on who put the dump there .

 

[RED Matthews]

All I can tell you - is to make sure there are no vertical seams on the finish of the bottle The finiish is the top closure part of a bottle. If there are seams that tells you that it iw an ABM Automatic 'Bottle Machine made bottlel The next thing is to look at the bottom, to see if there is a round circle ofo glass on the bottom as that could be a pontil mark. Those two things tell you it might be a hand blown bottle. If it is - it can have some value. RED Matthews

 

[Robby Raccoon]

Well welcome to the Forum! May great discoveries await thee. And by circle he means on applied-top bottles (pre-1870.) Owens Machine-made bottles have a circle as well but are circa-1905(?) Pontil and another commonly-seen pontil-type V. suction scar. (Click blue.)

 

[sunrunner]

aaaah what bottle are we talking about ? I thought we were talking about dumps !

 

[Robby Raccoon]

SunRunner, Red began talking about pontils. So I'm clarifying the difference between a suction-scar and a pontil. I never made the mistake, but other people have not knowing the difference.

 

[SeaGoat]

Thanks for the tips!
I'm still looking for places to look.
There are several old home steads right on my street but I'm not sure about asking to dig around on someone's property..

We have industrial property that is undeveloped, maybe I should start there?

When looking for signs of old homesteads, what are you looking for?

 

[2find4me]

Homesteads are a good place to start. Finding the chimney or the foundation is where you could start at. You might want a probe with you to find maybe where an outhouse used to be. People used to throw bottles down there. It will probably be out of the way, a little bit away from the house. Often times it is not too difficult to get permission. Another great thing you could do is get permission to the city dump if there was one. Also, construction sites are a good place to poke around.

 

[andy volkerts]

Outhouses were usually at the back of or on the sides of lots and farmsteads, so the original layout of the house is important and not always easy to figure out, a probe is essential for finding dumps and outhouses. a five foot probe will handle ninety percent of what areas you will search. this site has several posts on where to buy probes that are safe to use......Andy

 

[sandchip]

The red clay should be your best friend when using a probe, because when you're over a privy, it should slip right in, instead of bouncing of the top of the ground. Of course, rotted out tree stumps will probe easy too, but it beats sand everywhere like around here, coupled with unlined pits.