Some recent colonial pit digging finds

[TomsNutt]

Hey Bill,

Great stuff! I know it was a nice reward for all your hard work. Two questions if you do not mind.

1. What did you use to clean your items? They look great!

2. Were you lucky enough to find anything intact?

Thanks

 

[bearswede]

Sounds like you've got things under control, Bill... Certainly, you can't be expected to do more under the circumstances...

It's really gratifying that forum members are concerned with the scientific aspect of our archeological heritage!

Ron

 

[Bill D.]

Hey TomsNutt - to answer your questions, I just use warm water and a small brass brush, nothing more. Occasionally for the rough edges, I went with a soft toothrush which was better at getting in all the nooks and crannies. As far as finding something whole, no luck there. But at the site shown in the first 2 pics, at least 2 intact 17th century onion bottles were dug, plus a couple more with minimal damage. I was not lucky enough to find one of those, which is my #1 goal right now. A beautiful 1719 wine bottle seal was also dug there. At the other site, I've been saving and cleaning everything I've dug in hopes of piecing an item or 2 back together. But its been kinda strange - I've dug pieces from probably well over 100 different items, but seems like there's always just a few pieces, and never nearly enough to glue something back together. Seems like at least a few jugs, tankards, etc, with minor damage would have been tossed, and I would be able to find most/all of the pieces. But that's not the case. Anyway, I've got a big project to work on this summer, as I have 10 boxes of shards.

 

[bearswede]

Hi Bill...

I think American colonists were probably pretty parsimonious with their utilitarian ware, probably not tossing it until it was rendered useless... Any sign of patching/glueing in any of the pottery shards?

So I'm thinking New England should have its share of colonial pits? How do find these, Bill? Are you in a rural or urban setting? Any tips would be appreciated...

Ron

 

[kastoo]

Were you able to put together the shards?

 

[Bill D.]

Ron - no, I haven't found any evidence of glueing/repair to any of the items I've found. Like you said, guess they kept reusing stuff as long as practical before trashing it. All of the colonial pits I dig are in rural areas, although I'm sure you could find them anywhere there was activity. My primary interest is relic hunting, and I hit a lot of early colonial homesites in rurla areas. When walking around in the fields, especially in the winter when you can see the ground better, I look for signs of an early dump like old brick, oyster shells, old glass and pottery shards, pipe stem pieces, lots of small or large iron, etc. If you can find a fairly concentrated area like this, then start doing a little probing. If you're feeling stuff under the surface, particularly under the plowzone, you need to dig a test hole and see what's coming out. If it looks promising, then just keep digging. Also, I've found trash pits by locating large, deep iron with my detector, even in the absense of surface finds. Keep in mind too that during early colonial times, say prior to 1750, there weren't really "pits" per-se, but trash was just broadcast out the back door or window, and slowly worked its way into the ground over the years. The main site I just finished digging was exactly like that. It was quite broad (maybe 30-40 ft across at plowzone level), but no deeper than 18-24". Later, smaller and deeper pits were dug, and trash was also dumped down wells and privy holes no longer used, as you probably know. The "field" pits are usually rather easy to find. They're nearly always downhill from the housesite (to the rear or side), and sometimes in plain view right in the middle of the field. They're also commonly located in areas where you'd typically find a turn-of-the-century bottle dump - ravines, hillsides, any low spots, etc. Give it a try - I think you'll like it. But, like you mentioned, the chances of finding anything whole are remote. Good luck!

 

[Bill D.]

Kastoo - no, I haven't started that process yet. I just finished digging the site last weekend, and plan to start sorting out all the boxes of shards soon, and will attempt to try and glue some items together, if I can find enough pieces to do so. I will definitely post some reassembled stuff later if I have any success.

 

[kastoo]

That will be cool!

 

[Yooper14]

Good to see you! Bill D (VA), right? I'm a FREQUENT visitor/poster over on The Treasure Depot...saw this post here (I recently caught up with this site) and noticed that the finds looked similar to another post I'd seen. Looks like you're the same person![] Neat to see some of the great people in these hobbies posting on more than one forum!
Yooper (aka Pacific Yooper)

 

[digginbot247]

Great finds Bill just shot you out a email I am also in Hampton roads hope to hear back from you once again lots of cool looking pieces for glue.