SC Colonial Trashpit diggin- Georgius Rex, posset pot, wig curler, pipes and more!

[Pacivilwarluke]

Down in SC for a bit, and although its hot, its not stopping me from digging! Here are two mornings worth of results from digging and sifting my Colonial Trashpit site in the lowcountry-

Ended up with 267 pipe stems and bowls! Notably one is marked TD, Thomas Dormer, who started in the pipe making buisness in London in 1755, and one bowl is totally intact, a first from this site! Also dug part of a kettle with the handle, and a colonial shutterdog, which would've held the shutters open on a colonial house. Dug a bunch of bottle bases and tops, sadly none complete but thats the nature of this pit!



I also dug some crystal/glass goblet stems and bases, one which I was able to reconstruct. One item that almost passed me by was the little half wig curler, thought it was a pipe stem at first. This is the third wig curler from this pit. There was also a ton of brick in this pit, which I stacked up as I was digging.



While I was scraping away at the sides, I saw an intact base of some sort of cup! I slowly eased it out and saw that I had an awesome english slipware cup, and saw more pieces of it in the hole! I had to reconstruct it a bit, but it is a posset pot, a term which I knew nothing about until I researched a bit. It is likely early 18th century, a similar one was found in CT by archeologists and they said that it was very outdated by the 1790s, the context it was found in. Posset was a drink made from curdled milk with ale or wine- which doesn't sound that great to me haha!



This was the first of some artifacts I attempted to reconstruct. A Teacup, bowl base, and even a GR Georgius Rex (King George) westerwald stoneware jug that I was able to reconstruct! A GR jug was high on my bucket list, and I'm very happy to be able to own a piece of history like that!



I also recovered an intricate clay marble, the second one from this site. This one is swirled brown and white and almost looks like polished wood! With items in this pit and the dating of pipe stem bores that I have done, it dates somewhere between the early 1700s and late 1700s.



Some other non metallic items of interest that came out of the pit were these two matching lion face and paw parts from a teapot or something along those lines. If anyone has an idea what it may be please let me know, thanks! I also got a piece of ceramic with a triangular stamp in it, looks composed of material similar to the bellarmine jug part I dug here in December ( http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/t...-button-1766-hibernia-bellarmine-jug-etc.html ) but then again may be something totally different. I dug plenty of ceramic fragments including creamware, westerwald stoneware, china, staffordshire, slipware, and more! There are a bunch of lovely green, brown and smoky colored pieces that go to the same vessel, hoping to reconstruct that one! Found some pieces with faces on them, which is always cool! One even has the letters T A T. Wish I knew what the whole thing said.EDIT - On second thought maybe it says TAX? This site played a role in the revolution also for the revolutionary side so maybe its political? Or maybe i'm thinking to far in to things haha.



Luckily I brought my detector too to detect! I found 4 buttons, one with the backmark of William Cleaver, who was a bishop in Britain in the 18th century. I know of certain backmarks with names of famous individuals commemorating events, but this seems unlikely to me, so maybe an unlisted button manufacture. This button seems to date later than most artifacts in the pit, and was in surface dirt so may have been a later drop. I got three rosettes, one is a nice bullseye. Also got some brass tacks, two brass rings, two musketballs, one chewed, one fired, a tag or furniture eschutcheon with leaves on the scalloped edges, bale seal, and some large brass piece.



And that was about it! Had a blast and can't wait to do it again! Thanks for reading this long winded account! Happy hunting everyone!

Heres another thread from this pit with my friend Isaac when he came down!

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/t...re-blazing-420-pipestems-more-pits-isaac.html

 

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[Isaac]

I read every word in that post, love how you go into detail on some of these pieces which most detectorist would chuck or lack interest in! Hopefully this post changes their minds! Man I wish I was with you! This trip I've seen you dug more quality than quantity. The clay marble is astounding, as well as the awesome TR pipe bowl. Love how you took the patience and time to put together every possible cup and dish from the site too! I just realized the brass piece may be off of a saddle strap guide? But one end is completely rusted shut from the pit being LOADED with iron. Can't wait to meet again soon buddy! Can't wait to hear about more of your finds too!!! HH!

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Absolutely a fantastic Relic hunt! I love all of the pottery, nice job on the reconstruction!

 

[Calabash Digger]

nice! my hunting partner loves trash pits too.

 

[screwynewy]

Very nice job recovering all of those relics. They really tell a story about how the colonist lived back then. It's crazy how interesting a trash pit from the 1700's can be compared to one from the early 1900's. Makes me want to try it sometime.

 

[nsdq]

Man that looks like one heck of a great day

 

[Silver Tree Chaser]

Wow! You really dug some fantastic ceramic pieces. I'm hoping to find a few pits like that sooner or later, and hopefully your post will give me the necessary motivation to do just that! Your meticulous digging and organizing of fragments is very impressive. The GR ceramic fragment is a killer find – a most wanted list item for early colonial diggers. Great job!

 

[relic lover]

That's awesome those are some great looking relics looks like you have some assembly required LOL. I think I may have found a pit or privy on one of my really old sites. It is such a long hike I still have yet to take a probe and shovel. I was wondering how you find your pits. Did you just see a depression in the ground and decided to probe it?

 

[ajaj]

Neat interesting dig! Love that marble.

aj

 

[dts52]

Great post and great finds! Congrats!
HH
dts

 

[Pacivilwarluke]

I read every word in that post, love how you go into detail on some of these pieces which most detectorist would chuck or lack interest in! Hopefully this post changes their minds! Man I wish I was with you! This trip I've seen you dug more quality than quantity. The clay marble is astounding, as well as the awesome TR pipe bowl. Love how you took the patience and time to put together every possible cup and dish from the site too! I just realized the brass piece may be off of a saddle strap guide? But one end is completely rusted shut from the pit being LOADED with iron. Can't wait to meet again soon buddy! Can't wait to hear about more of your finds too!!! HH!

Thanks my friend! Means a lot! Putting these pieces back together is a labor of love! Its like seeing history come to life! And I think you may be right, I'll have to clean it up more and see if it does! Can't wait to see you again man!

 

[Pacivilwarluke]

Very nice job recovering all of those relics. They really tell a story about how the colonist lived back then. It's crazy how interesting a trash pit from the 1700's can be compared to one from the early 1900's. Makes me want to try it sometime.

It is certainly worth it, it's about as close as I can get to meeting the people who once occupied this site!

 

[Pacivilwarluke]

Wow! You really dug some fantastic ceramic pieces. I'm hoping to find a few pits like that sooner or later, and hopefully your post will give me the necessary motivation to do just that! Your meticulous digging and organizing of fragments is very impressive. The GR ceramic fragment is a killer find – a most wanted list item for early colonial diggers. Great job!

Thanks! I'm thrilled to have dug a GR!

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Outstanding post and excellent summary of a very productive colonial pit dig Luke. Looks like that sifter is really working for you . That's quite an assortment of 18th century pottery shards, and hopefully you can find the time to do some reconstructions although that won't be an easy task with all the small pieces. I'm also impressed with those stemware frags, especially that cool looking base. Also, those 2 copper alloy rings pictured along with the buttons likely served as the backing or frame for embroidered fasteners. I typically find these at both 17th and 18th century sites, and some were likely from “Dorset” buttons that were commonly worn by women and children. Hopefully you still have more of the pit left to excavate so a return trip is in the cards. Again, great post and finds!

 

[Scrappy]

Great post! I love the yellow cup, and those bases are phenomenal. My favorite it the marble, however. That one is incredible. Thanks for sharing

 

[Carolina Tom]

Awesome relics and a great story. Thanks for sharing your expertise!

 

[Pacivilwarluke]

That's awesome those are some great looking relics looks like you have some assembly required LOL. I think I may have found a pit or privy on one of my really old sites. It is such a long hike I still have yet to take a probe and shovel. I was wondering how you find your pits. Did you just see a depression in the ground and decided to probe it?

Thanks! This one was disturbed by an animal and I saw pipestems and pottery but I have probed in the area and know there are more pits. This one wasn't a depression, but its a shallow pit that was more than likely just a dumping spot and artifacts worked their way down a bit.

 

[DownNDirty]

Wow-That's a huge quantity of colonial pottery and other relics. I think the tea pot is my favorite. I can't imagine how much sweat was involved digging that pit but it sure looks like it was worth it.

Keep digging!

 

[Stef45]

What a great post! Loved reading it and seeing the relics. I will have to reference this post in the future. Thank you for posting

 

[Palmetto]

Good post and I can t believe you are pit digging in the heat we have had!! That is some strong determination.
The GR jug is outstanding and wish more of it could be pieced together. Good job on the research on pipe maker and others.
Got t be more non-ferrous metals in there as well!