How do you determine original soil vs land filled

[49er12]

A veteran detectorist once told me fresh original ground would be blackened dirt possibly softer. Also if the ground is hard to begin with does that mean the surface was scraped off because of clay exposed. Original vs filled over how?s this determined when observing from a beginners eye, thanks

 

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[crashbandicoot]

A lot depends on the locale I would think.What the old timer said is a good general rule.Here our main soil type is either a black loamy soil or what we refer to as buckshot,truth down in Louisiana would call it gumbo.Closer to the rivers a sandy loam.Most fill dirt for building sites comes from the sandy loam areas.If you get the sandy loam and dig down and hit the black stuff or buckshot you can be reasonably sure the top is fill.Around the woods the top layer is a kind of black soil with lots of humus,underneath that is almost all ways buckshot.Hope I haven,t confused you and this will help,it,s very locality based.

 

[Truth]

I?ll look for the black ashy soil down here we call it that dark rue gumbo. I agree with crash when I am saying lighter clean looking sandy dirt an old house that has a lot of memorials modern clad it?s usually fill that was put there may be in the 70s you really have to Metal Detecting enough that you read the dirt you just get really good at it i?m being down here in New Orleans it?s a whole Nother game if you start hitting all red brick or white shells in the middle of a field that?s normally a Indian mound so you pick up things and of course learning the history of where you are. I hope you picked up at least one thing out of all of this.

 

[49er12]

How to read the dirt, wow another subject that can help detecting, you see we are not just digging holes this hobby is very educational. Is there such a study like rocks and trees

 

[crashbandicoot]

Thanks for the update and quick reply. I'll be sure to keep an eye on this thread.

mygroundbiz

And a hearty welcome to Tnet to you StevenC15!

 

[smallfoot]

Little further down south than Truth(n. central Fl.), our dirt here is sugar sand until you get down to hard pan which is dark and hard. In the wooded areas around here we have 2-4" of loam on top of the sugar sand. Once in a while in oak tree areas you'll find some yellow sand which some call clay but it doesn't pack well like clays north of here.

 

[crashbandicoot]

How to read the dirt, wow another subject that can help detecting, you see we are not just digging holes this hobby is very educational. Is there such a study like rocks and trees

49er12 I,ve been on here for a little over a year. I,ve learned so much that it should probably be considered illegal.If you,re willing to open your mind and listen the possibilities are endless.I can,t help with rocks,if you want rocks where I live you,ve got to bring them from somewhere else,but dirt and trees we got.I love trees,love being among them and they,re a subject all their own.One good tip is to look for trees you don,t usually see in an area,an odd tree or trees is usually an indicator that someone may have planted that on an old homeplace where the building no longer stands.A good place to begin a search.You get the drift I,m sure.

 

[crashbandicoot]

Little further down south than Truth(n. central Fl.), our dirt here is sugar sand until you get down to hard pan which is dark and hard. In the wooded areas around here we have 2-4" of loam on top of the sugar sand. Once in a while in oak tree areas you'll find some yellow sand which some call clay but it doesn't pack well like clays north of here.

It,s truly based on locality,got to notice things like that when you dig in your area.if you want to see a really interesting thing,if you have any big rivers go there in late summer or fall when they,re low and take a little boat trip.Find one of those high cut banks and just take a look at the layers there,sand,loam,clay other layers one on top of another.Truly amazing if you,re the curious type.Or maybe I,m just easily entertained.

 

[49er12]

I truly believe this information is as good as a detector, your location and figuring out what it use to be. Oh for sure this is not your regular open field and park digging folks, this is going back in time , oh I agree when the water gets low get out there