CIVIL WAR ERA BOTTLE PIT FOUND!!!

Harrison

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Jan 14, 2020
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60 bottles recovered from a permission at the battle of franklin. My girlfriend and I found a civil war era trash pit in the back field of a 1800s home while metal detecting for civil war relics. We were hot on the trail of bullets and other items when we were overloaded with iron tones. We decided to start digging and found copious amounts of charcoal. While digging we recovered: pottery, gun parts, old locks, tools, horse tack, wagon tack, tooth brushes and tons of other period items including BOTTLES!!! The bottles range anywhere from 1800-1910. We assume the trash pit was used pre civil war, during, and after explaining the vast array of awesome relics we have found. We are going on our second month of constant digging and we aren't anywhere close to being done. I hope you all enjoy our finds! Keep on digging, you never know what you’ll find!
(Be careful digging old bottles. We recovered a mercury bottle and it spilled everywhere and got all over everything. We were fortunate not to get sick or hurt & were even able to save some in a glass vile that we then put into the original bottle.) 06F9D0FD-3B62-4B7F-A6A6-A7D4F6A5D1CD.jpeg 24C6EECA-C599-4617-9F4B-3E4D9B7188DA.jpeg A212BA20-8B2C-44F5-9B03-66B65FD9B1F4.jpeg C8137174-8E45-450B-9522-0928C2A7AEB3.jpeg
 

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Mudflap

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Mar 31, 2012
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Wallingford, Connecticut 1667
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What a haul.!!! Nice finds.. Yea... Watch that mercury.
 

civilman1

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Nov 29, 2005
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You'll be there for a while on the bottle/glass section. Not much of a bottle digger but I could get into it. Love the time period,good stuff!! :thumbsup:
 

firemanphob

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Apr 8, 2018
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Lanesville, IN
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Great haul. I would go crazy in a place like that.
 

GoDeep

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Nov 12, 2016
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60 bottles recovered from a permission at the battle of franklin. My girlfriend and I found a civil war era trash pit in the back field of a 1800s home while metal detecting for civil war relics. We were hot on the trail of bullets and other items when we were overloaded with iron tones. We decided to start digging and found copious amounts of charcoal. While digging we recovered: pottery, gun parts, old locks, tools, horse tack, wagon tack, tooth brushes and tons of other period items including BOTTLES!!! The bottles range anywhere from 1800-1910. We assume the trash pit was used pre civil war, during, and after explaining the vast array of awesome relics we have found. We are going on our second month of constant digging and we aren't anywhere close to being done. I hope you all enjoy our finds! Keep on digging, you never know what you’ll find!
(Be careful digging old bottles. We recovered a mercury bottle and it spilled everywhere and got all over everything. We were fortunate not to get sick or hurt & were even able to save some in a glass vile that we then put into the original bottle.) View attachment 1798905 View attachment 1798906 View attachment 1798907 View attachment 1798908

Really nice finds! I was wondering, was the dump site mostly concealed and the bottles not visible under dirt? I ask because there is a sinkhole like depression near me and there are a few bigger iron things sticking out only half buried, like an old milk can and what not, and i'm wondering if there isn't like bottles and stuff underneath if I dig.
 

sandchip

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Oct 29, 2010
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Georgia
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Great bunch of finds, but none of the bottles I can see would date to the Civil War period. Your end date of 1910 is about right with the early side being around 1890. Thanks for sharing those with us!
 

Argentium

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Feb 2, 2008
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Santa Fe, New Mexico
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Amazing ! Thanks for sharing this trove with us ..I too think they date later 19th C. -early 20th.
 

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Gaspipe

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Sep 6, 2013
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New England
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Nice grouping . As you’ve been correctly told they are 1890 to 1910 bottles; definitely not civil war period.Some are machine made and date later.
 

digging440yrs

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Dec 5, 2012
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smokeythecat

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Nov 22, 2012
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Maryland
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I concur with the dating. There is one crown cork and seal bottle, that style was developed around 1900. Most of the cork topped bottles are 1890's or so.
 

MidMoTreasure

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Jul 2, 2012
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Mid-Missouri
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How long did it take to excavate the entire pit? What was the approximate size? And finally, to help those of us new to bottles, how did you find it? Just hits on the metal detector or did you use a probe?
 

A2coins

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Dec 20, 2015
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Ann Arbor
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Holy crap that's a banner find in my book I think I would be pitching a tent there. Amazing
 

Calabash Digger

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Apr 18, 2016
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lenmac65

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Jul 28, 2009
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Wow.. that is a nice selection of bottles. A few more digs like that and you will need a bigger house:laughing7:
 

villagenut

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Oct 18, 2014
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florida
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Not civil war era, but still a nice bottle haul. I would have brought them all home:thumbsup:
 

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