jgas
Silver Member
- Apr 23, 2008
- 3,793
- 2,469
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- DFX, Pro 6000XL, SunRay Probe, Centech Pinpointer
I should say that every single day is a good day to dig. No matter what the weather or the "Vibe" you get when you start to dig a privy.
We started out on a beautiful day, sunny and high near 80 degrees.
You can't ask for a better day to dig can you? So we started out on a nice property that I have had my eyes on for a couple years. Vacant house on it and permission granted, we wasted no time in doing a little map search and finding the house to be built around 1895 or so. Ya know the fun part really is doing a bit of research to see what you think may be an 1800's house and then digging to confirm what you thought. 
Knowing that we were digging in an area that has had a few other diggers from the past 10 years or so, we were skeptical in that this may have been dug before. That "Vibe" I spoke of was hitting both Don and I and it never really went away until we finally found some glass to confirm that it wasn't dug before. It sure had us questioning ourselves as to stop digging or just continue to the end. But we had a perfect day, so down we went. The initial dirt appeared to be mixed, no real layering that we are so used to seeing. Not a good sign.
But we kept at it as we quickly passed the 7 foot level and on towards 8 feet. Of course we keep probing on the way down just to give us hope, when it seems there is none. Don was in the pit and decided to check again, probed and hit glass at nearly 9 feet. So close but still no definite answer, was it dug or not. 
Then finally a sign from the past, a sign of 1890's came to light. No big find but at least it was something. A slick blob beer, whole with a whole whiskey right next to it. It had appeared that we were in a pit that was in fact not dug. So he kept at it right in the corner where a "drop zone" appeared to be. And alas, confirmation hit us. An embossed quart beer, whole and in great shape. Then it was game on. He found some medicines and some other stoneware and glass. Then it was my turn to go down 3 feet below the 6 foot ladder depth. Yikes, that's kinda deep. But safe as we were digging in a grove of trees that had roots everywhere. But still have to be safe as always. I started out with finding an American telegraph and telephone Co. Insulator. In perfect shape. These hardly ever come out "alive" as they were used as Bottle Bombs. 
Never did understand why throw stuff in as an attempt to break things smaller, but leave the bricks and rocks to fill it up. Maybe a way of using that material as drain system at the base. ?? Who knows. Either way, they missed this one. Then I found a pint blob beer that I had never seen before. John Greif from South Bend. Cool little blobber. Then a neat little painted salt shaker. Things were looking up, literally as I looked up out of a 9 foot pit.
Then Don found some more medicines and another John Greif. sweet. Then an older tooled crown top beer. Then he found what was a part of a multi part insulator for high power lines. A cool find either way. I then was back in and saw a cone ink. We find these all the time in privies. Really common. Usually Carters, Staffords and others. So being the knucklehead I was I just tossed it up out of the whole paying no attention to it really. Don grabbed it and put it in the pile of bottles that we already had. It wasn't until we were basically done with the pit and getting ready to fill it in when I picked up the ink to wipe the dirt off of it. And WOW was I glad that I didn't toss that back or even break it when I threw it out of the pit. After cleaning the dirt off of it and putting it up to the sunny sky I realized what we found. An absolutely beautiful lemony citron staffords cone ink. In fact it seems like the dang thing changes colors from citron to clear and back as you turn it in the sun. Never saw anything glass quite like it before. Just an awesome find to end the day. So needless to say, be careful with all the finds until you really find out what you have. It's worth being careful, not only digging a hole this size, but also careful in the artifacts and glass you locate. Finished the day with some cobalt bromo's and a small poison too. So it was a beautiful day to dig, as everyday is a great day to be a digger! Be safe out there and Happy digging!
jgas
We started out on a beautiful day, sunny and high near 80 degrees.
You can't ask for a better day to dig can you? So we started out on a nice property that I have had my eyes on for a couple years. Vacant house on it and permission granted, we wasted no time in doing a little map search and finding the house to be built around 1895 or so. Ya know the fun part really is doing a bit of research to see what you think may be an 1800's house and then digging to confirm what you thought. Knowing that we were digging in an area that has had a few other diggers from the past 10 years or so, we were skeptical in that this may have been dug before. That "Vibe" I spoke of was hitting both Don and I and it never really went away until we finally found some glass to confirm that it wasn't dug before. It sure had us questioning ourselves as to stop digging or just continue to the end. But we had a perfect day, so down we went. The initial dirt appeared to be mixed, no real layering that we are so used to seeing. Not a good sign.
But we kept at it as we quickly passed the 7 foot level and on towards 8 feet. Of course we keep probing on the way down just to give us hope, when it seems there is none. Don was in the pit and decided to check again, probed and hit glass at nearly 9 feet. So close but still no definite answer, was it dug or not. Then finally a sign from the past, a sign of 1890's came to light. No big find but at least it was something. A slick blob beer, whole with a whole whiskey right next to it. It had appeared that we were in a pit that was in fact not dug. So he kept at it right in the corner where a "drop zone" appeared to be. And alas, confirmation hit us. An embossed quart beer, whole and in great shape.
Then it was game on. He found some medicines and some other stoneware and glass. Then it was my turn to go down 3 feet below the 6 foot ladder depth. Yikes, that's kinda deep. But safe as we were digging in a grove of trees that had roots everywhere. But still have to be safe as always. I started out with finding an American telegraph and telephone Co. Insulator. In perfect shape. These hardly ever come out "alive" as they were used as Bottle Bombs. Never did understand why throw stuff in as an attempt to break things smaller, but leave the bricks and rocks to fill it up. Maybe a way of using that material as drain system at the base. ?? Who knows. Either way, they missed this one. Then I found a pint blob beer that I had never seen before. John Greif from South Bend. Cool little blobber. Then a neat little painted salt shaker. Things were looking up, literally as I looked up out of a 9 foot pit. Then Don found some more medicines and another John Greif. sweet. Then an older tooled crown top beer. Then he found what was a part of a multi part insulator for high power lines. A cool find either way. I then was back in and saw a cone ink. We find these all the time in privies. Really common. Usually Carters, Staffords and others. So being the knucklehead I was I just tossed it up out of the whole paying no attention to it really. Don grabbed it and put it in the pile of bottles that we already had. It wasn't until we were basically done with the pit and getting ready to fill it in when I picked up the ink to wipe the dirt off of it.
And WOW was I glad that I didn't toss that back or even break it when I threw it out of the pit. After cleaning the dirt off of it and putting it up to the sunny sky I realized what we found. An absolutely beautiful lemony citron staffords cone ink. In fact it seems like the dang thing changes colors from citron to clear and back as you turn it in the sun. Never saw anything glass quite like it before. Just an awesome find to end the day. So needless to say, be careful with all the finds until you really find out what you have. It's worth being careful, not only digging a hole this size, but also careful in the artifacts and glass you locate. Finished the day with some cobalt bromo's and a small poison too. So it was a beautiful day to dig, as everyday is a great day to be a digger! Be safe out there and Happy digging! jgas
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