paleomaxx
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- Aug 14, 2016
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This past weekend was beautiful out, but unbelievably cold here. I attempted a hunt at my colonial site, but it's on somewhat raised ground and it froze solid. A little dejected I opted to hunt for the next homesite on the old map. I had already looked for it and found the two homes further up the road, but there was nothing to indicate anything else. I had even walked through the woods and couldn't find anything that indicated settlement. No cleared/leveled ground, no solid rock walls, and certainly no cellar hole. But I was bored so I took to just gridding the land between the two sites I knew existed in hope of finding an iron patch. Less than an hour in I found it!
The ground has started to freeze and it was bitter cold so I only managed about an hour and a half of tighter gridding and covered a 20'x40' patch which may have been to the side of the house. There really isn't anything that would indicate a structure and there are rocks everywhere like it was never cleared for any sort of farming, but the relics check all of the boxes.
Loads of buttons including one dandy! Most of the flats have standard 1820-1830's back-marks, but I did find three 2-piece dome buttons with very nice designs. I don't usually find those, so I'm interested in how many more will turn up.
These two are classic homesite finds: the small batwing buckle and the suspenders buckle.
I'm most excited about these bells. A complete bell is a rare find for me and to find two within 5 feet of each other is incredible! Light lemon juice cleaned them up nicely, although one had started to corrode in the pine soil. They still have a great sound to them too.
Multiple spoons seem to be the clearest indication of a homesite and the middle pewter one has an iron wire core and a scallop shell drop. Based on my research I think that (along with the general shape) indicates Thomas Yates so 1790's maybe.
The hunt also included a first: a watch winder! I've never found one before and this one has great designs on both sides. Is there any way to trace this to a maker based on the design, or were there too many aftermarket watch winders in those days?
And last but not least, there was a single coin from this hunt: an 1879 Indian head penny.
Based on the relics it seems like the site was inhabited from the late 1700's to the late 1800's, but more relics should help isolate when it was most active. It really is odd that there aren't any structure remnants. Rocks aren't in short supply in these woods so I doubt anyone salvaged them for other constructions. There is a single section where two 20' lengths of rock walls come together at 90 degrees to a very large glacial rock. I'll try and get a good photo of it when the snow melts, but it doesn't look like it would have supported a barn. At any rate there's supposed to be a thaw at the end of this week so if the ground frees up, I'll extend the gridding and hopefully have a bunch more relics to decipher!
The ground has started to freeze and it was bitter cold so I only managed about an hour and a half of tighter gridding and covered a 20'x40' patch which may have been to the side of the house. There really isn't anything that would indicate a structure and there are rocks everywhere like it was never cleared for any sort of farming, but the relics check all of the boxes.
Loads of buttons including one dandy! Most of the flats have standard 1820-1830's back-marks, but I did find three 2-piece dome buttons with very nice designs. I don't usually find those, so I'm interested in how many more will turn up.
These two are classic homesite finds: the small batwing buckle and the suspenders buckle.
I'm most excited about these bells. A complete bell is a rare find for me and to find two within 5 feet of each other is incredible! Light lemon juice cleaned them up nicely, although one had started to corrode in the pine soil. They still have a great sound to them too.
Multiple spoons seem to be the clearest indication of a homesite and the middle pewter one has an iron wire core and a scallop shell drop. Based on my research I think that (along with the general shape) indicates Thomas Yates so 1790's maybe.
The hunt also included a first: a watch winder! I've never found one before and this one has great designs on both sides. Is there any way to trace this to a maker based on the design, or were there too many aftermarket watch winders in those days?
And last but not least, there was a single coin from this hunt: an 1879 Indian head penny.
Based on the relics it seems like the site was inhabited from the late 1700's to the late 1800's, but more relics should help isolate when it was most active. It really is odd that there aren't any structure remnants. Rocks aren't in short supply in these woods so I doubt anyone salvaged them for other constructions. There is a single section where two 20' lengths of rock walls come together at 90 degrees to a very large glacial rock. I'll try and get a good photo of it when the snow melts, but it doesn't look like it would have supported a barn. At any rate there's supposed to be a thaw at the end of this week so if the ground frees up, I'll extend the gridding and hopefully have a bunch more relics to decipher!
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