Cleaned colonial pit finds plus some observations

[Bill D. (VA)]

Finally got all the stuff cleaned up which is a real job. The pipe stems are always the hardest as there are so many of them, and I also like to clean out the bore holes so I can take measurements using drill bits. Speaking of that, I performed an analysis using the Binford regression formula to determine the mean date of manufacture of the pipe stems, which corresponds very closely with the site occupancy dates since pipes were usually broken and discarded quickly. By measuring the diameter of all 98 stems and computing a weighted average, and then plugging that value into the formula (found in Hume's books and others), I calculated a mean date of 1704. That's probably quite accurate due to the large sample size, and it also matches up very nicely with the artifacts we've been digging in this pit for the last few years. Generally the age of finds ranges from around 1675 to 1725 give or take a few years. All of the black glass bottle spouts and bases are from pancake onion bottles that date from the 1690-1710 era for the most part. We've found many hundreds of these pieces over the years, yet only 2 whole bottles have been recovered. There's so much glass in these pits that it would be totally impossible to attempt any reconstructions. The closest I've come to digging a whole bottle at this site is shown in the last pic below. I can't tell you how awesome it would be to dig a whole pancake onion with a seal, but that's probably never going to happen at this site except under the most extraordinary of circumstances. But that's not going to keep me from trying ......

 

[Dug]

Blood pumping finds. Sweet. Hope you find a whole pancake onion.

That's pretty damn big oyster shell! Imagine the choker that came out of that!

 

[doninbrewster]

Are you digging dump pits or cellar holes?

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Are you digging dump pits or cellar holes?

Its a huge early colonial dump. For more about this dig check out my original post further down the page.

 

[screwynewy]

Exciting finds Bill, I have no doubt that you will dig a whole onion bottle. What is the claw looking item in the box with the pottery in the lower right corner?

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Exciting finds Bill, I have no doubt that you will dig a whole onion bottle. What is the claw looking item in the box with the pottery in the lower right corner?

That's probably a tusk from a wild boar or pig which seemed to be frequently on the menu back then. Loads of other animal bones were found in this pit as well as just about every one I dig.

 

[matt092079]

Love it, Bill. Those clay pipes are so awesome!

 

[joeyfresh]

Great analysis Bill. I think the real chance if finding a whole bottle would be in the mud along the shores of these old sites as there would be less chance of debris being thrown on top of them.
I look forward to getting out with you next week. Please bring your lucky horseshoe

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Great analysis Bill. I think the real chance if finding a whole bottle would be in the mud along the shores of these old sites as there would be less chance of debris being thrown on top of them.
I look forward to getting out with you next week. Please bring your lucky horseshoe

Thanks Joey. You must have made out OK today since you're banging away on the keyboard. Can't wait until next week.

 

[Ahab8]

Great finds and great system for analysis as well. That site has incredible potential and I hope it produces some killer finds for you (not that the stuff you've already found isn't great). My mom came to my house tonight with some great 1741 maps she found of my area. She's huge into geneology and you never know what she's gonna come up with. Always enjoy your posts Bill. Best of luck out there, Abe

 

[surf]

Hello Bill,

Great job on the cleanup, sir. What are your thoughts on the origin of that green white ware plate? Does the underlying crock have a kind of a chalky, maybe not high quality consistency? I have twice dug similarly colored ware fitting that description, thinking it late throws, I never got anywhere on sussing out it's origin.

Does the one black glass neck fragment retain some original wire (to the left side of the group photo)? I'd request an individual portrait of that one, should you be so inclined, please. The soil seems to have been most forgiving at your spot.

Thanks for showing us.

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[Bill D. (VA)]

Hello Bill,

Great job on the cleanup, sir. What are your thoughts on the origin of that green white ware plate? Does the underlying crock have a kind of a chalky, maybe not high quality consistency? I have twice dug similarly colored ware fitting that description, thinking it late throws, I never got anywhere on sussing out it's origin.

Does the one black glass neck fragment retain some original wire (to the left side of the group photo)? I'd request an individual portrait of that one, should you be so inclined, please. The soil seems to have been most forgiving at your spot.

Thanks for showing us.

View attachment 930850View attachment 930850​

Surf - I think you're referring to that large that large green item in the top center of the first pic. That's a c1650-1700 tin-glazed earthenware milk pan. It was very likely imported from England by the wealthy landowner living at the site. It has a yellow buff base, not white. And the green glaze is a tin oxide. Bottle spouts with wire closures may have a significance as I wrote about in my recent magazine article about colonial bottle seals. I've copied the insert in the article that discusses this feature, and its shown in the pic below along with a blow-up of the one recently recovered. If you have an interest in reading the whole article you can PM your email address to me and I'll send you a pdf copy.

 

[DocBeav]

Incredible man! It all looks GREAT!

 

[mirage83]

Hopefully you'll find a couple of complete bottles in there somewhere Bill.

 

[Thommy]

You are not just "digging", you are doing real archaeology. Your analysis is very well done. Good work!

 

[Valley Ranger]

Great stuff!

 

[Steve in PA]

Bill, It's amazing that more of those heavy black glass bottles don't survive. One of these days you will get into a pocket of survivors!!

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Bill, It's amazing that more of those heavy black glass bottles don't survive. One of these days you will get into a pocket of survivors!!

Steve - normally these bottles were reused and refilled as per my recent article. But at a wealthy planters home I wouldn't expect recycling was a big priority. So lots of whole bottles should have been tossed. But with all the brick and other debris in the pit many were probably broken on impact. I did have a recent thought that some tossed bottles may have rolled down to the bottom of the slope and survived intact. That area doesn't probe well at all, but there still could be a random whole bottle lurking. Might have to give that a shot sometime.

 

[The Boots]

Nice stuff and info

 

[surf]

I did have a recent thought that some tossed bottles may have rolled down to the bottom of the slope and been and survived intact. That area doesn't probe well at all, but there still could be a random whole bottle lurking there. Might have to give that a shot sometime.

Hello Bill,

I would advise you to pursue that thought. I've dug several hill dumps, of much more recent vintage, and have found several pockets of rollers that survived, well below the areas of the main dump.

From one of the photos in another one of your posts, I got the notion that this dump might be a river bank one. I would search and scratch about in the mud flats at the bottom, if that is indeed the case.

Thank you for the additional photo of the wire on that string rim finish. Copper alloy wire would be majorly effective in retaining the cork. Overkill, really, when compared to the narrower gauge non copper wire that I've found on several examples of later 19th Century bottles. I wonder if that, too, might have been a mark of "status."

I hope you guys are sifting, as I type. Continued success, sir!

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