Quite labor intensive, but is it ever worth it?

[Kiros32]

I was thinking about the Ol' Shark Pit last night and noticed that a lot of what rtde3 finds is not metal, ie bottles, ceramics, etc. I was wondering if any of you have ever done a full excavation at a site before? For example, found a cellar hole and literally plotted the site, roped it off, and started digging, sifting, and searching? Point being, I think we miss a lot of interesting things by not doing this, including possible indian artifacts.

 

[Kiros32]

Hmmmm, guess not lol.

 

[Mirage]

People do this when they find a bottle dump but I doubt many do it elsewhere. One old site I am going back to do a little "excavating" is an old homesite that we have found some of those interesting items. Trouble is where to start digging. Kinda have to locate some "trashy" area and start there. I will stick more with the metal detector though.

 

[Burdie]

Might be something to think about in certain sites. HH Burdie

 

[diggummup]

I'd like to find a spot where I can sift through everything.I know a cellar hole in Stamping ground,Ky(try googling that with Jesse James).,i'd like to excavate but that's a thousand miles from me here.If I only knew then what I know now!

 

[Gribnitz]

Cellar holes are the best places to do sifting. You obviously know someone was there at some point and there are going to be a lot of things that won't read on a detector. You can find clay pipes, pieces of pottery you can piece together to form a whole, bottles, porcelin dolls, deep coins missed by a detector, all sorts of stuff you would never find with a machine. It's a ton of work and I would like to do one at some point, but not alone I have one in mind I could probably do, but I would never attempt it alone and its always full of water.

 

[DugHoles]

You've made a good point here. A good THer doesn't just find things with a detector.

You find treasure:
-searching for our signifigant other
-on Ebay
-in your everyday change
-sifting through celler holes....
-at yard sales
-in the garbage....
-at flea markets
-at estate sales
-in the hospital delivery room.....
-etc, etc

All this is why I personally call myself at THer and not a MDer. Just my 2 cents.........

GL & HH,

DugHoles