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 ......

 

[Old Dude]

What an amazing number of pipe stems. Great finds and even better information and thoughts from all posting in this thread. Thanks for some great reading.


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[Bill D. (VA)]

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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Surf, the bottom of this dump is not on a riverbank, but just continues on at a less steep slope before eventually bottoming out. Now that you've confirmed my theory about rolling bottles we'll definitely have to check for that next time there either by some careful probing or random test holes. But I'd be willing to bet that with enough patience some whole bottles could be found. And yes, we are sifting. My original post had some pics of me and Stan with our sifters. That's how we've recovered all those early bottle seals. If you want to recheck that post you can click on it below:

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/t...-produces-treasure-trove-early-artifacts.html

Also, here's a pic of what my sifter looked like after all the large pieces of brick, oyster shells and glass had been removed. It's not an easy job with all the debris, and things can be easily missed. Without sifting the chances of finding a seal are remote at best as we proved for years. But after sifting the last 3 years or so we've added at least 30-40 seals to our collections. Its the only way to go.

 

[CASPER-2]

 

[johnnyblaze]

Sweet digs Bill

Good research and observations also..

Blaze

 

[CoilyGirl]

I too am convinced there are whole bottles to be found there and eventually y'all will find them.the amount if bits and pieces in that site are amazing!

 

[Zodiacdiverdave]

More fantastic digs there Bill. You really hit on the clay pipe stems and onion pieces, wow.
Good luck on your next hunt and I hope you get a chance to try out your theory on the rollers.
ZDD

 

[BuckleBoy]

Still might be a beautiful pattern that is easy to pick out of the pit, and possible for a reconstruction. The more unusual, the easier it is to collect the shards.

Well done, Bill. That pottery is a century older than what we find here!

 

[Westfront]

Great recovery there! :