What do you think?

[relichunters]

There is an old cellar hole at a late 1700's homestead, it's out in the woods. The original house was all wood and it's fully gone, all that remains is the hand dug well and cellar hole. I've found some pottery, melted glass, a key, etc in it. A bunch of original bricks are mixed in with the dirt, and it seems some extra dirt has gotten in it, maybe a foot or so. (I think cellars were around 3 - 4 feet right?)

So anyways, since the cellars were usually always made of dirt (the ground you walked on), would it be worth it to take a shovel and dig deep? Do you think anyone might have buried their money in the dirt in the cellar?

 

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[snake35]

Worth checking out.

 

[Terry Soloman]

There is an old cellar hole at a late 1700's homestead, it's out in the woods. The original house was all wood and it's fully gone, all that remains is the hand dug well and cellar hole. I've found some pottery, melted glass, a key, etc in it. A bunch of original bricks are mixed in with the dirt, and it seems some extra dirt has gotten in it, maybe a foot or so. (I think cellars were around 3 - 4 feet right?)

So anyways, since the cellars were usually always made of dirt (the ground you walked on), would it be worth it to take a shovel and dig deep? Do you think anyone might have buried their money in the dirt in the cellar?

What I have done in the past is completely rake out the floor down to bare dirt. Then I grid it into quarters. Take each quarter as a seperate project. Start with the Northwest corner, Southwest corner. Work your way down a foot at a time. When you start to hit artifacts, you'll know how much overburden you'll have to remove in the other quarters. Exciting! - Good Luck!

 

[relichunters]

True that sounds like a plan. Wish I didn't have to dig up bricks in the process, that is going to get tiring.

 

[snake35]

Anything worth doing is worth doing well.

 

[Monty]

With our annual tornado weather our storm cellars are about six to eight feet deep! The one you found may be partially filled in with dirt, bricks, and trash. At least that's what I am finding in my part of the country. Many were dug deep enough to chill canned fruit and veggies and some even had ice packed in straw that would stay cold all summer. Monty

 

[relichunters]

Good tip Monty, I was thinking they bent down or got on their knees in the cellar since it's below ground, but maybe I am wrong.

 

[smittyw]

Let is know what you find. Very, very few cellars in Florida due to the high water table. I have always wanted to work a detector in one. Best of luck.

 

[relichunters]

Will do

 

[Monty]

Many of the cellars in "Tornado Alley" closely resembles the old notion of a fallout shelter. I have been in a few that has bunkbeds and a bench all the way around the wall for people to sit. But they all are about 8' deep and plenty of room for every one to stand up. Of course the old ones were cellars for keeping and storing home canned goods , and doubled as a storm shelter. I have never seen one that you had to get down on your knees to enter. Some of them did have about two feet of them sticking up out of the ground and was made of solid concrete. Ask Texan connection about his cellar if you want to see a neat one. Monty

 

[diggummup]

If I had a site like that, i'd excavate the entire area. Look for the privy. Look for the old dump site. If the site is as old as you say then the glass (bottles and such) is worthy of excavation and preservation, not to mention it could be very well valuable.

 

[Sky Pilot]

Our storm cellars are well made and generally the walk-in type in Tennessee too. It could just be a "root cellar" or place for potatoes and such things, but I'm with Diggummup, it's best to do it all.

A four foot probe will be very handy for finding the outhouse and other "holes" from long ago.

Good luck!!


Sky Pilot