SC Colonial Trashpit diggin- Georgius Rex, posset pot, wig curler, pipes and more!

[Pacivilwarluke]

Down in SC for a bit, and although its hot, its not stopping me from digging! Here are two mornings worth of results from digging and sifting my Colonial Trashpit site in the lowcountry-

Ended up with 267 pipe stems and bowls! Notably one is marked TD, Thomas Dormer, who started in the pipe making buisness in London in 1755, and one bowl is totally intact, a first from this site! Also dug part of a kettle with the handle, and a colonial shutterdog, which would've held the shutters open on a colonial house. Dug a bunch of bottle bases and tops, sadly none complete but thats the nature of this pit!



I also dug some crystal/glass goblet stems and bases, one which I was able to reconstruct. One item that almost passed me by was the little half wig curler, thought it was a pipe stem at first. This is the third wig curler from this pit. There was also a ton of brick in this pit, which I stacked up as I was digging.



While I was scraping away at the sides, I saw an intact base of some sort of cup! I slowly eased it out and saw that I had an awesome english slipware cup, and saw more pieces of it in the hole! I had to reconstruct it a bit, but it is a posset pot, a term which I knew nothing about until I researched a bit. It is likely early 18th century, a similar one was found in CT by archeologists and they said that it was very outdated by the 1790s, the context it was found in. Posset was a drink made from curdled milk with ale or wine- which doesn't sound that great to me haha!



This was the first of some artifacts I attempted to reconstruct. A Teacup, bowl base, and even a GR Georgius Rex (King George) westerwald stoneware jug that I was able to reconstruct! A GR jug was high on my bucket list, and I'm very happy to be able to own a piece of history like that!



I also recovered an intricate clay marble, the second one from this site. This one is swirled brown and white and almost looks like polished wood! With items in this pit and the dating of pipe stem bores that I have done, it dates somewhere between the early 1700s and late 1700s.



Some other non metallic items of interest that came out of the pit were these two matching lion face and paw parts from a teapot or something along those lines. If anyone has an idea what it may be please let me know, thanks! I also got a piece of ceramic with a triangular stamp in it, looks composed of material similar to the bellarmine jug part I dug here in December ( http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/t...-button-1766-hibernia-bellarmine-jug-etc.html ) but then again may be something totally different. I dug plenty of ceramic fragments including creamware, westerwald stoneware, china, staffordshire, slipware, and more! There are a bunch of lovely green, brown and smoky colored pieces that go to the same vessel, hoping to reconstruct that one! Found some pieces with faces on them, which is always cool! One even has the letters T A T. Wish I knew what the whole thing said.EDIT - On second thought maybe it says TAX? This site played a role in the revolution also for the revolutionary side so maybe its political? Or maybe i'm thinking to far in to things haha.



Luckily I brought my detector too to detect! I found 4 buttons, one with the backmark of William Cleaver, who was a bishop in Britain in the 18th century. I know of certain backmarks with names of famous individuals commemorating events, but this seems unlikely to me, so maybe an unlisted button manufacture. This button seems to date later than most artifacts in the pit, and was in surface dirt so may have been a later drop. I got three rosettes, one is a nice bullseye. Also got some brass tacks, two brass rings, two musketballs, one chewed, one fired, a tag or furniture eschutcheon with leaves on the scalloped edges, bale seal, and some large brass piece.



And that was about it! Had a blast and can't wait to do it again! Thanks for reading this long winded account! Happy hunting everyone!

Heres another thread from this pit with my friend Isaac when he came down!

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/t...re-blazing-420-pipestems-more-pits-isaac.html

 

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[Steve in PA]

Fantastic job excavating that trash pit. My favorite is that marble. It is incredible.

 

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[Gridwalker306]

SC Colonial Trashpit diggin- Georgius Rex, posset pot, wig curler, pipes and ...

Man you could start a museum with the piles of good things you dig. I really like that gorgeous marble. Has a marble ever made the banner? If there ever was one, yours would be it.

 

[Pacivilwarluke]

Outstanding post and excellent summary of a very productive colonial pit dig Luke. Looks like that sifter is really working for you . That's quite an assortment of 18th century pottery shards, and hopefully you can find the time to do some reconstructions although that won't be an easy task with all the small pieces. I'm also impressed with those stemware frags, especially that cool looking base. Also, those 2 copper alloy rings pictured along with the buttons likely served as the backing or frame for embroidered fasteners. I typically find these at both 17th and 18th century sites, and some were likely from “Dorset” buttons that were commonly worn by women and children. Hopefully you still have more of the pit left to excavate so a return trip is in the cards. Again, great post and finds!

Thank you so much! I'm working on some reconstructions today, I mostly completed the lid to a teapot and am working on assembling some pieces of a cup. It is interesting that the stemware is coming out of this pit now, prior to this I had dug two fragments from this pit. The more I work towards one side the more "complete" items I am finding and more glass too. Thanks for identifying the copper alloy rings, that is really cool! I've dug four total from this site. I plan on returning as soon as possible!

 

[Pacivilwarluke]

Great post! I love the yellow cup, and those bases are phenomenal. My favorite it the marble, however. That one is incredible. Thanks for sharing

Thank you! I'm over the moon about the marble, it is a great representation of colonial games and leisure!

 

[Pacivilwarluke]

Wow-That's a huge quantity of colonial pottery and other relics. I think the tea pot is my favorite. I can't imagine how much sweat was involved digging that pit but it sure looks like it was worth it.

Keep digging!

Lets just say I didn't look so great afterwards- covered in dirt, drenched in sweat, bit up by skeeters and the obligatory Poison Ivy I always end up with haha! Most definitely worth it though! Thanks!

 

[Pacivilwarluke]

Wow-That's a huge quantity of colonial pottery and other relics. I think the tea pot is my favorite. I can't imagine how much sweat was involved digging that pit but it sure looks like it was worth it.

Keep digging!

Lets just say I didn't look so great afterwards- covered in dirt, drenched in sweat, bit up by skeeters and the obligatory Poison Ivy I always end up with haha! Most definitely worth it though! Thanks!

 

[Pacivilwarluke]

Good post and I can t believe you are pit digging in the heat we have had!! That is some strong determination.
The GR jug is outstanding and wish more of it could be pieced together. Good job on the research on pipe maker and others.
Got t be more non-ferrous metals in there as well!

Yep! It certainly is a labor of love for me. Heat doesn't bother me too much if I'm finding relics though haha! Hopefully there is some more nonferrous targets, I'm hoping for a complete shoe buckle frame or something like that! Thanks!

 

[Pacivilwarluke]

Fantastic job excavating that trash pit. My favorite is that marble. It is incredible.

Thanks! I thought it was a musketball when I first spotted it and it was covered in dirt haha!

 

[metalev4]

Nice detail in your post, the marble is really cool. Nothing like colonial pit digging!

 

[winslow]

Thanks for the detailed post. I've never seen a clay marble like that. Pretty awesome site you have there. I'm jealous!

 

[Pacivilwarluke]

18th century reconstructed Top lid off of a teapot, work in progress with reassembling artifacts!

 

[Stef45]

would the cup be considered Combed Yellow slipware? I know that is something archaeologists look for while looking for colonial sites.

 

[david680]

Great finds! That marble is top dog though!

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

would the cup be considered Combed Yellow slipware? I know that is something archaeologists look for while looking for colonial sites.

No, combed slipware is like those pile of shards shown in a couple of the pics in his post that have a yellowish background, similar to that cup, but are decorated with dark stripes. I like to call them "tiger stripes", and this type of pottery confirms late 18th century occupancy.

 

[Patriot Relics]

Quite an assortment of colonial ceramics Luke, love the stamped pipe and leather bosses. Glad to see the SC dirt delivering the goods, outstanding sifting

 

[Stef45]

No, combed slipware is like those pile of shards shown in a couple of the pics in his post that have a yellowish background, similar to that cup, but are decorated with dark stripes. I like to call them "tiger stripes", and this type of pottery confirms late 18th century occupancy.

Thanks Bill! I have found myself going down the rabbit hole of ceramics today and all I've learned is that its going to take awhile to get a good grasp of it all.

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Thanks Bill! I have found myself going down the rabbit hole of ceramics today and all I've learned is that its going to take awhile to get a good grasp of it all.

My book coming out next year will have a chapter on colonial ceramics with loads of photos, but that doesn't do you any good right now. However, if you're interested I can send you a PM with a few good websites that can help with ID of these items.

 

[OutdoorAdv]

WOW Luke... phenomenal results man. That's a whole mess of incredible artifacts and that pit looks like it's far from being kicked. I remember your post from last year with all those pipe stems. I can't wait to see what else you find down there. The Westerwald GR Stein or jug piece is amazing to me. I think it was DownNDirty who posted one and when I saw his, I thought they were the coolest pieces. Digging an emblem like that would be a highlight for me! I'm also fascinated by that marble... I've dug dozens of clay marbles, but never seen anything like that one.... I stared at it for a while trying to figure out how/what it was made/of and I've concluded it was made by.... aliens. Seriously cool looking marble! Great hunt with some killer variety man. Best of luck on the reconstructions and keep us posted. This stuff is the best.

-Brad

 

[trapperart]

Congrats on a great bunch of finds and nice post

 

[Rustic]

That is the most unusual, coolest marble I've ever seen.