Ollie split, but Bartmann grew-and a surprise bowl

[DownNDirty]

For those of you who read my last post you will remember that I ran into a three-foot gator in a creek on the way to the trash pit I call the Swamp Pit. Well I went back to the pit last Saturday-and the gator (or "Ollie" as I have named him) was nowhere to be found. The creek level dropped so I guess he headed back to the swamp.

The pit had dried out a lot thanks to a lack of rain for several days. What was a pond on Labor Day had improved to this:



While it was a far cry from the slosh pit that I wallowed in last Monday it didn't take long for me to get covered in mud.



Undeterred I worked my way through more black glass shards, brick fragments and animal bones. My main goal for the day was to find as many of the missing shards to a Bartmann (aka Bellarmine) jug that I was reconstructing. I wasn't disappointed. I found seven of the shards, and one of them has a small medallion stamped into the clay. I was not able to find either of the large medallions that had been applied to the sides but my theory is that the jug owner removed and kept them before discarding the jug. They may have contained a family crest-but that is just a theory and I will never know.



I spent Saturday night and part of Sunday cleaning the shards and gluing them in place. I am really pleased with the result; I would estimate that the jug is about eighty percent complete.











I also found quite a few shards of a plain while bowl with the consistency of china.



I was hoping that I had enough of it to reconstruct the bowl, and as it turned out that was the case. It's only missing three small pieces.



One interesting find was a cow horn. At first I had hoped that it would be a powder horn, but there is no evidence of it being altered for use as such.



I also found the base to a green rectangular bottle and a large wooden bottle/jug stopper.



And lastly, I got really excited when I found part of the neck of a second Bellarmine jar. I searched and searched but never found another piece of it, but I believe the rest of it has to be somewhere in the pit.



So it was another good day in the Swamp Pit. It just keeps giving up surprises and has not disappointed me yet. Gotta love that mud!

 

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[Tommy G]

I admire your tenacity in searching/recovering these shards, and your work is fantastic! That jug is really coming together (thanks to you)! Wish you the best of luck in finding the final pieces, and thanks for sharing your progress!

 

[trapperart]

Congrats on the finds and on the job you are doing on the jug

 

[Carolina Tom]

Congrats on the banner. Well deserved, I might add.

As stated prior, your abilities in both recovery and reconstruction, are outstanding. Thanks for the Bellarmine jug education too.

Best of luck to you sir.

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Glenn, that thing looks even more amazing now. Awesome job finding more of it and on the incredible reconstruction. I'm optimistic for the medallions to be down there somewhere.

 

[DirtStalker]

Unreal it's Almost complete. Great job. And yes I will do everything I can to avoid that place even if I have to injure myself

 

[DownNDirty]

It's your destiny-you can't fight it. Give in to The Pit...

 

[DirtStalker]

It's your destiny-you can't fight it. Give in to The Pit...

Don't know I might have to move to Germany

 

[CRUSADER]

Excellent the rest must be there!

 

[Diggin Dude]

Absolutely incredible !! Hope you find the rest! Congrats and HH

 

[A2coins]

That is super cool and would be fun to put those back together amazing job. Thanks for a great post great pics great read .Be careful of the crock !!!!!!!!!

 

[OldJerseyGirl]

I think you will find it all. I know nothing about digging pits. Can't tell from the picture, but how big around and how deep do they usually go? Are they like an old well? Love seeing what you find. Can you dig the top with a shovel? Obviously most must be done by hand so as not to damage the goods. Just want to learn more about what you Guys do. Best of Luck to you. You really work for those finds!

 

[DownNDirty]

I think you will find it all. I know nothing about digging pits. Can't tell from the picture, but how big around and how deep do they usually go? Are they like an old well? Love seeing what you find. Can you dig the top with a shovel? Obviously most must be done by hand so as not to damage the goods. Just want to learn more about what you Guys do. Best of Luck to you. You really work for those finds!

Very good questions! This particular pit is in a low-lying area, basically a bog (hence the name). The trash was originally just dumped on the ground, with no hole being dug by the homeowners. Over time it has slowly sunk into the mud. The glass and other debris starts at about a foot deep, and goes down roughly six inches in the part of the pit that has the most debris.

What I have been doing is carefully digging out the top layer with a small shovel until I hit glass or brick. Then I break out a hand-held cultivator (one of those tools with three prongs) and rake through the mud a little at a time. The cultivator I was using at first was scratching the glass so I bought one that has a plastic coating over the metal and that works a lot better. Similar to this, but with a plastic coating:



I also use a large screwdriver to work around larger objects like big pieces of bottle to remove them. For the most part, during the 18th century trash was dumped on the ground at a low spot away from the house and not buried. This was usually (but not always) the case when the house was surrounded by woods. If the house was in a town or city the trash would have been deposited in a "privy," which was the hole that was dug for an outhouse. The outhouses had to bee moved every few years when the hole filled up (hold your nose) and at that point the hole would become a trash pit.

Regardless of what type of trash pit you are digging a good probe is an invaluable tool. The one I use is made of spring steel, so when I put pressure on it at an angle it flexes but doesn't permanently bend. This is what I use. I bought the 4 foot probe for $35 plus shipping and am very pleased with it:

http://singingprivyprobes.yolasite.com/

Without the probe I probably would not have dug this pit. A good friend of mine (Dirtstalker) found a few black glass shards sticking out of the mud when we were metal detecting around a home site that I had found. He dug a few more shards and then we went back to metal detecting. A couple of months later I went back there with my probe and as I worked it around the bog I consistently felt and heard the familiar crunch that glass and pottery makes when the probe hits it. I have been using the probe throughout the dig as my guide for where to dig.

I hope this helps. As Outdooradv (Brad) and Bill D have attested, trash pit digging is a TON of fun and one of the most productive types of relic hunting you can do. For those of you who are interested in pit digging I would encourage you to go back and read their pit digging posts. You will find that in addition to recovering a lot of non-metallic relics it is a great way to uncover some of the best relics made of metal with your detector.

So get a probe and go find yourself an old trash pit! Join in on the fun

 

[lowcountry]

Awesome finds and amazing patience!!�� I look forward to seeing more! !

 

[OldJerseyGirl]

Very good questions! This particular pit is in a low-lying area, basically a bog (hence the name). The trash was originally just dumped on the ground, with no hole being dug by the homeowners. Over time it has slowly sunk into the mud. The glass and other debris starts at about a foot deep, and goes down roughly six inches in the part of the pit that has the most debris.

What I have been doing is carefully digging out the top layer with a small shovel until I hit glass or brick. Then I break out a hand-held cultivator (one of those tools with three prongs) and rake through the mud a little at a time. The cultivator I was using at first was scratching the glass so I bought one that has a plastic coating over the metal and that works a lot better. Similar to this, but with a plastic coating:

View attachment 1358446

I also use a large screwdriver to work around larger objects like big pieces of bottle to remove them. For the most part, during the 18th century trash was dumped on the ground at a low spot away from the house and not buried. This was usually (but not always) the case when the house was surrounded by woods. If the house was in a town or city the trash would have been deposited in a "privy," which was the hole that was dug for an outhouse. The outhouses had to bee moved every few years when the hole filled up (hold your nose) and at that point the hole would become a trash pit.

Regardless of what type of trash pit you are digging a good probe is an invaluable tool. The one I use is made of spring steel, so when I put pressure on it at an angle it flexes but doesn't permanently bend. This is what I use. I bought the 4 foot probe for $35 plus shipping and am very pleased with it:

http://singingprivyprobes.yolasite.com/

Without the probe I probably would not have dug this pit. A good friend of mine (Dirtstalker) found a few black glass shards sticking out of the mud when we were metal detecting around a home site that I had found. He dug a few more shards and then we went back to metal detecting. A couple of months later I went back there with my probe and as I worked it around the bog I consistently felt and heard the familiar crunch that glass and pottery makes when the probe hits it. I have been using the probe throughout the dig as my guide for where to dig.

I hope this helps. As Outdooradv (Brad) and Bill D have attested, trash pit digging is a TON of fun and one of the most productive types of relic hunting you can do. For those of you who are interested in pit digging I would encourage you to go back and read their pit digging posts. You will find that in addition to recovering a lot of non-metallic relics it is a great way to uncover some of the best relics made of metal with your detector.

So get a probe and go find yourself an old trash pit! Join in on the fun

Very interesting. I never would have thought that. For some reason I thought they dug a pit, but makes sense that they would just dump it on the ground. Thank you for all of that. I do know where a couple of trash sites are in the woods behind where old homes are. I am assuming the newer stuff is closer to the top. Maybe when winter comes I will try finding something. Maybe! I am not getting any younger here. Thanks again.

 

[DownNDirty]

Very interesting. I never would have thought that. For some reason I thought they dug a pit, but makes sense that they would just dump it on the ground. Thank you for all of that. I do know where a couple of trash sites are in the woods behind where old homes are. I am assuming the newer stuff is closer to the top. Maybe when winter comes I will try finding something. Maybe! I am not getting any younger here. Thanks again.

You are welcome. From what I understand some people did dig hoes and bury their trash, or would throw it in depressions in the ground then bury it. But it was a common practice in the 18th century to just dump the trash on the ground. In fact a lot of people would throw food leftovers (animal bones, teeth, oyster shells, etc.) right out of their kitchen window. I'm glad that times have changed!

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

That's a strangely small medallion - never seen one like that. All I've seen, including mine below, have a singular, large circular or oval medallion on the front of the body. Never seen more than one on these jugs. And I do not believe the medallions were applied, but were molded as part of the original vessel. Nice going on finding some of the remaining shards. Love that reconstructed bowl too!

 

[against the wind]

Congrats on finding more shards and the almost complete reconstruction.
I found what used to be the town dump today, up here in Plattsburg, N.Y.
It's in the woods on the outskirts of town and was closed years ago.
I dug it for a few hours and found a few small bottles that were interesting.
Nothing old but I can see how trash pit digging can become addictive

 

[Patriot Relics]

I'm confident you'll find the remaining shards Glenn, the jug looks incredible

 

[DownNDirty]

That's a strangely small medallion - never seen one like that. All I've seen, including mine below, have a singular, large circular or oval medallion on the front of the body. Never seen more than one on these jugs. And I do not believe the medallions were applied, but were molded as part of the original vessel. Nice going on finding some of the remaining shards. Love that reconstructed bowl too!

View attachment 1359372

View attachment 1359373

Wow Bill, that's an amazing jug! Did you find it whole or did you reconstruct it?