Question on Ravine Digs

[JohnRoy]

I've found some interesting bottle and pottery fragments near an old home site that has a very large ravine near it (more like a valley), but there is a lot of trees in the area and leaves on the ground. My question is has anyone here ever found bottles down the side of a ravine that were not easily seen until you used a metal detector or probe? I am more used to the 1940s and 50s era dumps that I am able to find because of surface metal and some bottles on top. I still need to locate the privy, but the outline of the home is clearly marked out. John from Augusta, Georgia

 

[GuntherHess]

My question is has anyone here ever found bottles down the side of a ravine that were not easily seen until you used a metal detector or probe?

defnately, sometimes all you see are some tin cans on the surface.

 

[tigue710]

sometimes you dont see a thing...

 

[jays emporium]

Most of the dumps I've found are in ravines. Sometimes you can find a little broken glass on the surface and track it to where it is more concentrated. Often they got completely buried over the years. With a metal detector you should be able to locate something.

 

[cyberdigger]

Man, I've spent a LOT of quality bottle hunting time in ravines! A probing rod can come in handy if there's some surface evidence.. the goods are frequently under many decades worth of fallen leaves or landscaping debris or whatever else was dumped there.. look around somewhere kinda close to a house..

 

[JohnRoy]

Thanks for the encouragement. I went back out there and resumed my search for any surface tin cans, and I found one off the road, closer to the ravine. It seemed to be from the 1930s. Also, I removed a layer of leaves and debris to see how deep it went. Would you believe that the layer was about a foot thick in just the one area that I probed? I could not believe it! I'll resume my search during Spring Break while my wife is visiting her sister. I've not been able to find any old trash piles around this site, which is unsual in this particular area. I'm hoping that they put their old bottles and such down this ravine. It is rather more like an old valley. If I jumped from the top and hit the ground, I would probably die...
-John