Any Way To Dig A Privy That Still Stands?

[Brendan M.]

Hello Everyone,

The old house site I've been hunting (which has given up an incredible amount of relics) has an intact, four-seater, his/her privy. Based on what has been in the ground, I can only imagine the kind of goodies still intact down in the latrine.

So the question is this: How can I retrieve whatever is down there? Demolishing the privy is definitely not an option. Has anyone ever tackled this before?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Cheers and HH,
Brendan

[ohio]

If it were me I would probably stay away from that one. May be too "fresh". You could, depending on the age of the home, find an older pit that was filled in.

[unclenutsy]

Yes I would leave it alone too...Try probing to the left ot right first,then front and back because when they dug that one,they most likely just moved it close by and filled in the old privy with the dirt.