Privy Dig, need help from the experts

[Crusty Shellback]

My friend has a house that was built in the early 1700's. We located one privy pretty easily as it was a clear depression in the ground with a brick ring around it. We tried probing around but it was impossible due to extremely rocky terrain. We started digging this one and soon figured it had been filled in with rubble. Impossible to use a shovel due to all the rock and brick that had been used to fill it in. After hours of slow digging mostly by hand we got to the bottom of the brick lining which went down about two feet deep. The brick was all arched for support so the hole widened out slowly. The entry hole was only about a 20" diameter. Below the brick lining was stone block lined. The pit widened out more at this level and now is rectangular. We went through mostly rubble for probably 3-4 feet before we hit some signs of glass. We came across some of the usual garbage such as bones a few battery looking pieces probably from an automobile, scrap iron, glass shards, burnt wood, some pieces of coal etc. We think we went through some ash layer but it wasn't an obvious layer. We got quite a few bottles and jars in and below that. In two days time we got to six feet deep and seem to be below the heavy pockets of glass although we are not yet at the bottom as the stone lining continues down deeper. We had to wrap it up but will return to dig till we hit the bottom. We are hoping we are below the rubble, what a job getting that stuff out! The bottles and china range from the late 1800's to maybe the 1920's or 30's. One strange thing we found was an old iron pipe approximately 4 inches in diameter protruding into the hole through the stone lining 4 or 5 feet down. This makes us wonder if it is really a privy or possibly an old well or even some sort of old privy turned into a septic tank of sorts by someone around the time plumbing came into use. Anyone ever seen anything like this or have any ideas? We are wondering if any of the bottles we have found so far were actually in the privy or were tossed in with the fill. One of the oldest we found was nearest the top, unfortunately broken but very cool Meder & Zoon Gin bottle with an embossed applied seal and a pontil scar. None of the others are pontiled... so far! We're confused as to the dates as they seem all mixed up and not older deeper as we expected. The dig is on hold due to the holiday and prior commitments but will continue in the near future. Thanks in advance for any help and advice we can get. Here's some pics:

 

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[GB1]

wow a lot of nice bottles

 

[Crusty Shellback]

Here's the pipe entering the pit through the stone lining:

 

[kingskid1611]

This looks like a real cool adventure.....

 

[xaos]

hiding place for empties during prohibition.

 

[Rookster]

Looks like someone had a wine tasting party.Congrats. Nice bottle stash.

 

[sandchip]

I think you're right that it was a privy turned septic tank. Best of luck as you finish her up.

 

[Dug]

Definitely keep going down as you have yet to reach the period stuff.

IMHO if the house was built in the early 1700s then there should be some additional privies unless the geology prevented that and the original privy was maintained throughout until it's eventual demise.

 

[Bass]

Keep going till you hit bottom, if possible. There could be older stuff below. It was either a privy or well turned into a septic.

 

[islamoradamark]

that's quite a haul of some nice bottles how far back does that drain hole go? maybe see how far back a snake can go maybe it goes to a secret room that's covered up and needs tobe discovered

 

[Crusty Shellback]

Ohhh that would be something! I plan on metal detecting the yard to try and find that pipe. If it's coming from the house and flowed by gravity it should be closer to the surface nearer the house.

 

[Crusty Shellback]

I'm convinced there must be more privies there just due to the age of the house. Unfortunately it's impossible to probe due to the rock in the ground.

 

[jgas]

I don’t live anywhere near you and don’t have the expertise when seeing other pits from the east coast. With that said it looks like a privy to me as a cistern or well would have the bricks sealed with mortar. At least they do where I’m at in the Midwest. Now with that pipe going into there makes me believe it was a catch basin for water. Either way it has glass in it so make sure you go all the way to the bottom. See if there are very small shards of Pontils in there with nothing like full bottles. That would mean it was dipped over the years. Goodluck. Keep the pictures coming. Jgas.

 

[eyemustdigtreasure]

a...Well? ...a Privy??
I vote privy, as no one would fill a WELL with bottles...!
...however, brick-lined?
I heard of very little, if any, privies being lined - why waste good,
valuable bricks in a place you will bury, eventually...?
Good find, tho, and worthy of excavating...!

 

[glass half fool]

In my area after the outhouse was replaced with indoor bathrooms ,people put in a dry well /holding tank for running bath water ,laundry water dishwashing water into . It looks like with that 4 in.pipe that is what you could have found . It may have been used to store gray water and eventually filled with garbage just to fill in up . Or it may have been filled with the items you are digging out from the start . No way to tell but as long as you are digging pieces out I would keep digging .It is no way that the bottom would have items that where newer than what was on top

 

[sunrunner]

it's a cistern.

 

[NJKLAGT]

Amazing finds and great story.

I too am leaning toward cistern, the pipes may have been added to either draw the water out, or like you said, maybe it was converted to a septic tank of some sort. Did you look at the soil itself to see if there are old fruit seeds and other remnants from a human diet? At least it's clear that it was used for waste, that's a lot of bottles! I've found a deep brick cistern with an iron pipe 4-5 feet down just like you've described, but I haven't gone down inside. Another cistern that I did dig had all sorts of modern trash and stuff in it. I imagine it's pretty common for them to get repurposed for waste, it's a big deep hole, so it's perfect for that sort of thing.

There's a good chance that this thing goes deeper. Make sure to probe/dig an extra few feet after you think you've hit bottom.

 

[Crusty Shellback]

It's funny we haven't come across any seeds yet. Just chicken bones and some larger bones that looked like they were cut smooth with a saw so I'm thinking big leg of beef or something like that. We will dig till we hit bottom and then probe for sure. Hopefully we will come across some older stuff.

 

[eyemustdigtreasure]

Qualify a point.
I was given the opportunity to do some detecting at historic Ft Reading in California, and the site has a loamy-clay soil, with a more permeable layer below it, that was the water table. Plus, being located at the outside curve of a river, privies tended to fill with water!
To fix this, records showed they used LEAD liners for the privies - and we did indeed find lead sheeting in the field to prove it...!

 

[Crusty Shellback]

Interesting, never heard of lead lining in a privy before. I guess they had to come up with something if they were below the water table.