Hi I was wondering if this could be a bottle dump need help before digging

[Unitedstatesofamerica1]

yeah because when I keep digging deeper all this white clay comes out what does the white clay mean is it ash or something natural?

 

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[dfallis1]

Ive never had clay over a bottle dump or privy. Usually youll have a few inches a newer soil, then your ash layer or oyster shell, then artifacts. I normally stop when I get to the clay. Clay can be a variety of colors white, grey, tan even blueish ect.

 

[Unitedstatesofamerica1]

Well I barely found anything on the top and my backyard used to be a town dump in 1800s I was told so I'm thinking it could be deeper but not sure

 

[NJKLAGT]

If you only found those two pieces of glass in there, and you're already hitting clay like that, I would either find a backhoe and tear it up in one go, or not dig it at all. It doesn't really look like it's worth much time or care. Looking at your third picture in your latest post, with the view of the entire test hole and soil profile, it looks like there is little to no evidence that anything was buried there in any quantity. I can't see a single piece of glass or china or pottery, and I don't think there is any ash either, I think those dark colours are just the topsoil, maybe potting soil. That you found two pieces of glass there is probably only a coincidence, random broken glass is found everywhere on properties with a long history.

I would think that it was just a brush pile and that those lilies got planted there with some yard waste. Only two pieces of glass, already hitting clay? I think the trail may have gone cold on this one.

When your probe arrives, probe right into your test hole as far as you can. Maybe this is some massive clay cap placed over some goldmine dump, but I'm skeptical. But on a property as old as this there's gotta be something somewhere, so don't lose hope! Keep on searching.

 

[Unitedstatesofamerica1]

The dirt at the bottom is really hard to get out and there is hard grey big clay chunks coming out with it, I found teeth that came out with the grey chunk not sure if that is anything, but it is so hard getting past it, the more I go down the more I find grey clay and rusty dirt, so I had a sword that I stuck down in there and it was so hard to get through & couldn't even take it back out, but the sword wasn't as long as the probe is, so I'm not sure what to do

 

[NJKLAGT]

Make another test hole just outside of the suspected dump area - someplace where you don't think there was any substantial moving of material going on - and if you have the same results, with the empty clay, and the probe getting stuck and everything, then you could probably conclude that there is nothing under the lilies.

 

[Unitedstatesofamerica1]

Yes I made I test hole before on the side a little ways over and the same depth and I did not find clay like I do now, because before I did not make note of the lilies being there, but dug right next to it but nothing came up and the dirt was similar in color but not as rusty and grey clumps, like where the lilies are.

 

[NJKLAGT]

I'm not sure what else to suggest. I guess if I really wanted to be sure, I'd dig a deep and wide pit, maybe 6x6x6 feet, and then probe as far as I could in every direction. With only two pieces of glass and a few teeth, that's about as far as I'd be willing to go into clay like that. If I didn't find any more glass or anything, I'd fill 'er in and have a good sleep that night.

Be sure to keep your shovel clean if you get deeper down, because you might have some of the topsoil stuck to your shovel, and when you pull out a shovelful of clay from deep down, and a bit of topsoil gets mixed in, you're suddenly thinking, "oh my, here's something different, here's some ash or something". Similarly, if a piece of glass falls in from the surface, or takes a ride down on your shovel blade, you might make the mistake of thinking that there's something down there when there isn't. Stay driven but stay realistic. Good luck!

NJ

 

[Unitedstatesofamerica1]

I think I will keep digging I'm already this far so I'll see what comes up after a couple of feet and I'll post if anything new comes up

 

[NJKLAGT]

Yeah, I mean, the six foot pit thing would be way overboard, but yeah, dig just enough to satisfy that curiosity.

 

[westKYdigger]

If your backyard was the town dump in 1880's, the town may have capped it with clay when they stopped using it. If you trust your sources about the dump, keep digging. The idea about a test hole away from your dump site is a good one.

 

[Unitedstatesofamerica1]

Here are the teeth I found pretty far in the pit wall not sure what animal it is

 

[eastcoastdetectorist]

Definitely check it out if you have spare time!

 

[NJKLAGT]

Man, those look.....very fresh...

 

[4x4x4]

Here are the teeth I found pretty far in the pit wall not sure what animal it is
View attachment 1452333 View attachment 1452334 View attachment 1452335

....These were identified as pig teeth in another thread....

 

[NJKLAGT]

I think that you could probably rule out "town dump", for this particular spot anyway. The patch of lilies or whatever is not really that large. I think it's more likely that this was a tossing area for one family or even one person, maybe not used very often, the odd dead animal or compost or yard waste. Where is it in relation to the nearest house? Could you maybe draw a crude map with some distances?

The patch of lilies looks like it's only around 15 feet across - I don't think this would be enough space to dispose of an entire town's waste.

 

[Unitedstatesofamerica1]

I have a cistern in my backyard closer to my house and I found a half broken Hutchinson bottle and a broken green bottle next to it but not in the cistern, it was 3 feet down. Then when I had a metal detector but don't have one now, I found a amber mason jar full but broke in half did not think to dig anymore for other stuff because I did not know anything about that at the time. So I might wait until I get a good metal detector to search the area

 

[Dug]

I have a cistern in my backyard closer to my house and I found a half broken Hutchinson bottle and a broken green bottle next to it but not in the cistern, it was 3 feet down. Then when I had a metal detector but don't have one now, I found a amber mason jar full but broke in half did not think to dig anymore for other stuff because I did not know anything about that at the time. So I might wait until I get a good metal detector to search the area

You could always screen it. I got a few early marbles and tiny bottles (some open pontil) by screening.

 

[Unitedstatesofamerica1]

So I went down the hill today where there was more of a incline and found these peices

 

[Unitedstatesofamerica1]

So I came into a area where there was this on the top which really clayey and clams underneath this clay do you know what it is? So underneath the clay was black dirt with pottery and nails, than after I got the black dirt out it went to orange dirt and did not find anything else, I probed it but could not get passed the orange dirt, should I dig it?