Colonial pit dig yields some interesting clay pipe bowls and stems

Bill D. (VA) · Feb 8, 2016

I always look forward to my annual invite from my good buddy Stan to accompany him to dig in a huge and very early trash pit that we’ve been hitting for the last 10+ years. This spot has turned up some amazing artifacts, and we usually have our hearts set on recovering a few black glass bottle seals from the late 1600s to very early 1700s. But it’s getting harder to find a productive spot to dig, and we’re being forced to hit areas close to big trees that have major root issues. The first area I probed out had good potential, but after a couple hours and only about 5 small pipe stem pieces I decided to fill it in and move on. Eventually I found a small spot next to a couple big trees that probed out nicely and the test hole indicated that nobody had dug in that spot before as the layers were still intact. I started pulling out loads of onion and mallet bottle glass along with what appears to be the base of a shaft and globe bottle (mid-1600s) which is a great sign, along with random pottery shards and quite a few pipe stems. Eventually I recovered an intact early 1700s pipe bowl, and a partial bowl with a more bulbous shape from the mid-to-late 1600s. Many times these will have a maker's mark on the large, flat heel but not this time. Although I had not yet eyeballed a bottle seal, I felt pretty confident that one would turn up in the sifter when I refilled the hole. But that was not to be. Yesterday when I was cleaning the 50+ pipe stems, I noticed some interesting markings on 3 of them. Turns out the one depicting the image of a queen was indeed that of Queen Anne who reigned in England from 1702 until 1714. And the other 2 stems were also from that same period, but unfortunately they did not match up for a potential reconstruction. And one of the other partial bowls had markings on either side of the small heel (gauntlet on one side and crown on the other). Also found a nice little iron wedge. Although no killer finds were made, I’m looking forward to a return visit and pick up where I left off at that last spot. Not sure if it will be this season or not, but it will definitely something I’ll be looking forward to with great anticipation.

can · Feb 8, 2016

wow nice finds

Scrappy · Feb 8, 2016

Nice finds Bill. Good to see you digging in the dirt! What a great assortment of nice old goodies.

metalev4 · Feb 8, 2016

That pipe stem is a really interesting find and not something I have ever seen before. I sure thought a seal would surface, always next time. Good digs Bill.

joeyfresh · Feb 8, 2016

Definitely my kind of digging Bill! If that truly is a base of a shaft and globe bottle then I hope you at least find the neck if not more on your next visit because even a partial reconstructed one would be incredible.

Steve in PA · Feb 8, 2016

Looks like you got a good workout Bill. Those seals must be tough to spot unless you sift everything.

Bill D. (VA) · Feb 8, 2016

joeyfresh said:
Definitely my kind of digging Bill! If that truly is a base of a shaft and globe bottle then I hope you at least find the neck if not more on your next visit because even a partial reconstructed one would be incredible.

That's the 2nd S&G base I've dug there along with a neck or 2 as well. But there's so much broken glass in each hole that it would be impossible to reconstruct any single item which is why I leave it all behind except for the larger frags.

trapperart · Feb 8, 2016

Congrats on some great finds

OutdoorAdv · Feb 8, 2016

Bill, that Queen Anne pipe stem is amazing. I was wondering if any of those stems has markings on it the other day... that's really cool some did. That looks like a ton of fun... I'd much rather have dug in a pit on Sat then walk through snow for my VA Half penny and assorted other meager digs! Nice job man.

The Rebel · Feb 8, 2016

Bill this will be your year. If you've been hitting that spot for 10+ years now I suspect you'll hit the mother load of them all in 1 location.

relic nut · Feb 8, 2016

I've been thinking about building a siffter and trying that type of hunt. I have a spot that I think would produce well. Looks like a lot of fun and you sure found some great artifacts. Thanks for sharing[emoji106]

HH, Relic Nut

A2coins · Feb 8, 2016

Nice finds Keep posting

Ahab8 · Feb 8, 2016

Wow I'm jealous of those pipe bowls. I would love to find one at some point. Really glad to see you out doing what you love my friend. I'm sure it felt great

DownNDirty · Feb 8, 2016

Interesting stems-that is a very old site. Keep up the good work!

Silver Tree Chaser · Feb 8, 2016

Bill - I think that Queen Anne image on the pipe step is fantastic. You should post up another super macro image of Queen Anne. That's a really intriguing piece. Very old. Finds like that are going to motivate me to try my luck at digging pits again.

Bill D. (VA) · Feb 9, 2016

Silver Tree Chaser said:
Bill - I think that Queen Anne image on the pipe step is fantastic. You should post up another super macro image of Queen Anne. That's a really intriguing piece. Very old. Finds like that are going to motivate me to try my luck at digging pits again.

Hopefully this is a better shot Jim. When I was cleaning these stems I almost didn't see the images, and it made me realize that I need to go back through the hundreds of stems that have come from this same pit and examine them much more closely. No telling what I may have missed.