NJKLAGT
Bronze Member
- Oct 18, 2014
- 1,118
- 1,913
- Detector(s) used
- Garrett Euro Ace 350
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Hey Everyone, I hope that 2017 has been good to you so far and that those of you who can dig are getting into some good stuff!
The ground is pretty well rock-solid here, but yesterday I went on a long hike to check out an old house site that appears on a map from 1878. My Dad gave me a lift part of the way, but the rest was gonna be a good long walk in the woods. First I decided to check out a spot that I had noticed on satellite imagery that definitely looked like some trashy anomalies and not anything natural (second image). I was familiar with half of the walk there and so I took my time zigzagging on and off course trying to find some old arborglyphs, tree carvings on American beech trees, which is still a hobby of mine and was what led me to many bottle dumps before I got into digging them. I found some nice ones from the 1930s yesterday, not the oldest I've seen but still pretty good. I crossed about half a dozen corn and soybean fields separated by woodlots, briefly checking around the edge of each lot as I passed through. One woodlot had a shallow dump of jars and cans, but mostly 50s and 60s stuff.
I arrived at the spot that I located by satellite and it was indeed a dump. But again, it was mostly 40s, 50s, and 60s stuff - I have found that the dumps that are visible by satellite aren't usually as old as the ones you happen to stumble upon - the older dumps are usually more overgrown and hidden by older trees. Actually, there were some decent Quaker State oil cans and other cans that might have cleaned up well, so I might return for those in the future, but first I have to learn more about how to clean them. In the end I only took a single lid from this dump (you know how I love my lids).
After I crossed a few more fields and a road, things started to get interesting. The sky was heavily overcast, and it was a little tough to judge where the sun was through the trees and find my way around. But I had a general idea about where I was and used certain landmarks to connect the dots. Eventually I came to a line of telephone or hydro poles that ran northeast not far from the house, and so I knew I was getting close. In the woods approaching the house I discovered all of the largest oak trees that I've ever seen in my life. Red oaks, white oaks, and bur oaks that dwarfed any I had seen before. One of the bur oaks must have been over 6' in diameter, I'll make sure to bring something to measure them next time! These trees slowed me down a bit because I was just so wrapped up in thoughts about what these trees had seen in their long lives, and the people who would have sat in their shade (don't worry I'll bring a metal detector next time, too!).
Anyway, along the north edge of the woods and wetland surrounding the house site, I suddenly came across a dump (green marker), one that I did not see on the satellite imagery or expect to find. At first all I saw were these massive piles of field stones, and then I saw some rusted buckets, and then I saw a fruit jar, an early amethyst Improved Gem quart, sticking out of the leaf litter. A beauty, but unfortunately the bottom was broken off. But, sure enough, only a few feet away was this aqua blue Crown quart! This is the best Crown jar I've found so far, it is full of super tiny seed bubbles and a little older than some of the other Crowns that I've found. And so the fun began, and I got out my little scratcher and started rootin' around through the leaf litter like a hog. I found a couple of nice early ABM pickle jars, a nice amethyst square with a valve mark, and a sort of inverted cathedral with an Owens scar - these were embedded in the frozen peat-like wetland soil, and wouldn't budge until I gave 'em a soft careful kick with the heel of my boot. I also found an early ABM Wampole med to replace a more modern one that I have. There was evidence of some older stuff there too, like a broken applied lip cordial of some sort, some early fruit jar bases, blown crown soda tops, etc. It's a dump with a lot of potential! The challenges will be dealing with the massive field stones, and the wetland conditions once everything thaws - rubber boots and bug spray for sure.
I was starting to have a lot of fun, but it was getting darker out and so I made sure to check out the house site before I left (red marker). It had a foundation and cellar hole that were filled with wire and other nasty metal junk, and then an interesting smaller cellar hole of some sort about 100' from the house, also filled with junk but containing some nice glass shards. I hope to get a better look at everything next time I make the trek out there, if I don't get so distracted along the way! I've really gotta take more pictures too, but my camera isn't very reliable in the cold, so I'll see what I can do. I was just happy to get some glass in the winter! Anyway, I emerged from the bush onto the main road, the clouds broke up a bit, and this story ends with a two hour walk home in the sunset, just in time for dinner...
The ground is pretty well rock-solid here, but yesterday I went on a long hike to check out an old house site that appears on a map from 1878. My Dad gave me a lift part of the way, but the rest was gonna be a good long walk in the woods. First I decided to check out a spot that I had noticed on satellite imagery that definitely looked like some trashy anomalies and not anything natural (second image). I was familiar with half of the walk there and so I took my time zigzagging on and off course trying to find some old arborglyphs, tree carvings on American beech trees, which is still a hobby of mine and was what led me to many bottle dumps before I got into digging them. I found some nice ones from the 1930s yesterday, not the oldest I've seen but still pretty good. I crossed about half a dozen corn and soybean fields separated by woodlots, briefly checking around the edge of each lot as I passed through. One woodlot had a shallow dump of jars and cans, but mostly 50s and 60s stuff.
I arrived at the spot that I located by satellite and it was indeed a dump. But again, it was mostly 40s, 50s, and 60s stuff - I have found that the dumps that are visible by satellite aren't usually as old as the ones you happen to stumble upon - the older dumps are usually more overgrown and hidden by older trees. Actually, there were some decent Quaker State oil cans and other cans that might have cleaned up well, so I might return for those in the future, but first I have to learn more about how to clean them. In the end I only took a single lid from this dump (you know how I love my lids).
After I crossed a few more fields and a road, things started to get interesting. The sky was heavily overcast, and it was a little tough to judge where the sun was through the trees and find my way around. But I had a general idea about where I was and used certain landmarks to connect the dots. Eventually I came to a line of telephone or hydro poles that ran northeast not far from the house, and so I knew I was getting close. In the woods approaching the house I discovered all of the largest oak trees that I've ever seen in my life. Red oaks, white oaks, and bur oaks that dwarfed any I had seen before. One of the bur oaks must have been over 6' in diameter, I'll make sure to bring something to measure them next time! These trees slowed me down a bit because I was just so wrapped up in thoughts about what these trees had seen in their long lives, and the people who would have sat in their shade (don't worry I'll bring a metal detector next time, too!).
Anyway, along the north edge of the woods and wetland surrounding the house site, I suddenly came across a dump (green marker), one that I did not see on the satellite imagery or expect to find. At first all I saw were these massive piles of field stones, and then I saw some rusted buckets, and then I saw a fruit jar, an early amethyst Improved Gem quart, sticking out of the leaf litter. A beauty, but unfortunately the bottom was broken off. But, sure enough, only a few feet away was this aqua blue Crown quart! This is the best Crown jar I've found so far, it is full of super tiny seed bubbles and a little older than some of the other Crowns that I've found. And so the fun began, and I got out my little scratcher and started rootin' around through the leaf litter like a hog. I found a couple of nice early ABM pickle jars, a nice amethyst square with a valve mark, and a sort of inverted cathedral with an Owens scar - these were embedded in the frozen peat-like wetland soil, and wouldn't budge until I gave 'em a soft careful kick with the heel of my boot. I also found an early ABM Wampole med to replace a more modern one that I have. There was evidence of some older stuff there too, like a broken applied lip cordial of some sort, some early fruit jar bases, blown crown soda tops, etc. It's a dump with a lot of potential! The challenges will be dealing with the massive field stones, and the wetland conditions once everything thaws - rubber boots and bug spray for sure.
I was starting to have a lot of fun, but it was getting darker out and so I made sure to check out the house site before I left (red marker). It had a foundation and cellar hole that were filled with wire and other nasty metal junk, and then an interesting smaller cellar hole of some sort about 100' from the house, also filled with junk but containing some nice glass shards. I hope to get a better look at everything next time I make the trek out there, if I don't get so distracted along the way! I've really gotta take more pictures too, but my camera isn't very reliable in the cold, so I'll see what I can do. I was just happy to get some glass in the winter! Anyway, I emerged from the bush onto the main road, the clouds broke up a bit, and this story ends with a two hour walk home in the sunset, just in time for dinner...
