A little pit digging action over the weekend

[Bill D. (VA)]

Since most of the fields around here won't be available for a while, my partner Dan and I decided to make a return visit on Saturday to do a little more digging in a pit we found at the end of last season. It was the same site where we recovered 6 pieces of spanish silver, several colonial coppers, and a ton of buttons and buckles. Although we had previously found a few nails and pottery in this pit dating to the 1600s, the large majority of the finds are from the mid-1700s to the very early 1800s. We didn't get an opportunity to sift last time so we made sure we screened the dirt on this trip so as to not miss any goodies. The pit seems to be much more expansive than we previously thought, and we should be able to keep ourselves busy here for a good while. The pottery and glass finds weren't abundant, but we were able to pick up 15-20 tombac and early flat buttons. What was interesting was the many iron artifacts that continued to be recovered. We dug 2 large 1700s padlocks last spring, and dug another smaller one this time. We also dug a couple of large lock plates (from trunks??) and a barrel lock with possibly part of its key. Some large horse bit components were also found. Hopefully these items will survive the electrolysis bath in good shape. I also used my big magnet to clean out some of the small iron to reduce the masking when using the detectors. That helped us to find a nice early thimble as well as some of the buttons. Dan also dug a large and unusual brass pipe bowl that likely dates to the late 1700s. Although nothing really great surfaced during the dig, we're still optimistic this pit holds some surprises that will eventually be revealed on future digs, the first of which may be this weekend.

 

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[mangum]

Nice finds Bill! I'm getting the itch to visit my colonial site & dig some iron to hopefully get some goodies that were missed.

 

[lumbergh]

Amazing site. Hope it keeps giving more!

 

[metalev4]

Looks like a good time Bill. Some nice variety in that pit, hopefully a coin will turn up.
-Evan

 

[terpfan]

Bill, its great to hear that the pit is larger than originally thought. It already looks like you are off to a great start. I've never heard of anyone using a magnet to clear out iron, what a great idea. Do you use one of those long-handled magnets that contractors (like me) use to pick up lost nails in the grass?

 

[Zodiacdiverdave]

That's a great looking spot there Bill, I am sure there are lots of good finds yet to be had from there. Is there a cellar hole close by this site?
ZDD

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Bill, its great to hear that the pit is larger than originally thought. It already looks like you are off to a great start. I've never heard of anyone using a magnet to clear out iron, what a great idea. Do you use one of those long-handled magnets that contractors (like me) use to pick up lost nails in the grass?

Steve - I'd like to take credit for the magnet idea, but it came from another poster here on the forum. The one I'm using is called a 250# magnet since that's how much it supposedly will lift. You can see it in the 2nd pic in my post above. I used it initially at my colonial creek front site a couple weeks ago, and it did a great job by picking up hundreds of little pieces (and some larger chunks) of iron off the saltwater beach there. I was trying to pull it with a rope, but all the junk on the beach made that difficult. At the pit on Sat I just held it in my hand and ran it across both the excavated dirt as well as along the inside wall of the pit. But please note that you need to be very careful not putting the magnet near your detector, camera or any other electronic equipment as I'm sure it would cause damage.

 

[Wildcat1750]

Nice hunt! I like sifting pits. It's great for catching all of those non-metallic finds that would usually be missed!

 

[vpnavy]

Nice finds Bill. Thanks for sharing...

 

[joeyfresh]

Is this the same pit where you dug the delftware plate? How close is that pit to the house site? Where's the oyster shells?

 

[Steve in PA]

Good stuff Bill. Who knows what might be in that pit? Maybe some Rev War relics??

 

[G.A.P.metal]

Bill D.
man thanks for shearing that dig, great pitcures . ..just to recover/hold that history in your hand,makes my mouth water ! HH
Gary

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Is this the same pit where you dug the delftware plate? How close is that pit to the house site? Where's the oyster shells?

Joey - no, this is not the pit the plate came from. Chuck and I are still trying to get permission to get back in there again this winter. The pit we dug at last weekend was one where Dan and I found those 2 early padlocks not long before the season ended last spring. The pit is down at the bottom of a slope that comes off a nice knoll where there was some kind of 1700s structure. For some reason we're not finding many oyster shells in it at all which is surprising since we're not that far from the river. But like I said in my post, we still have a lot more area to excavate and there may be other pits at this site too. Will be a nice standby site to hit whenever things get slow elsewhere. But since most of the fields have not been cut around here yet we'll probably keep hitting this pit for a while longer. Anything exciting happening up your way?

 

[Nooberz]

Looks like you guys got some nice artifacts from the Dig. Can't wait to see if any surprises show up in that pit or others around there.

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

That's a great looking spot there Bill, I am sure there are lots of good finds yet to be had from there. Is there a cellar hole close by this site?
ZDD

Dave - sorry I forgot to respond to your question, but it's probably been answered in my reply to joeyfresh below. But in a nutshell, yes, it's just down the slope about 50 yards from a knoll where we've found a lot of brick and iron which we assume was the site of some kind of 18th century structure.

 

[BuckleBoy]

There will be something in that pit that will make it all worthwhile. Seems like a great one to dig. One day I am going to ask the farmers here to dig out the pits on some of our sites. I want to get as much from the surface as I can before I up the ante and ask to dig a trench in their fields.

Any techniques for dislodging hard-packed oyster shells from a pit?

Cheers,

Buck

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

There will be something in that pit that will make it all worthwhile. Seems like a great one to dig. One day I am going to ask the farmers here to dig out the pits on some of our sites. I want to get as much from the surface as I can before I up the ante and ask to dig a trench in their fields.

Any techniques for dislodging hard-packed oyster shells from a pit?

Cheers,

Buck

That's a great question Buck, and one that you'd figure I'd have an easy answer for seeing how many hard-packed oyster shell pits I've dug over the years. But, unfortunately, I don't have any easy solutions to that problem. The pit I dug at the hammered silver site it probably the worst one I've had to deal with, and it was so bad it took a major effort to even get a sharp probe rod through it. Using a regular digging shovel is pointless as it's nearly impossible to work it into the shell layer even a couple of inches without great difficulty. A narrower, most pointed shovel will work better but its still a very difficult task. I've even had to resort to getting on my hands and knees and using my small Lesche hand digger to pry the shells apart almost individually. Sometimes once you get through the top use layer the shells thin out, but occasionally they go all the way down. That not only makes it difficult to excavate, but it also becomes a real pain when sifting. Also, once you have a nice hole opened up and you want to start expanding it, take your probe rod and push it down as far as you can about 8-10" from the edge of the hole, and then pull it toward you which will collapse new material. That's a lot easier than shoveling and will also make it less likely to damage any artifacts. I guess the only real solution is to have the smallest, sharpest tool available, and to have a tremendous amount of patience. But the rewards for perseverance can be great. I can't wait to see what awesome recoveries you guys make when you get into the serious pit digging mode. Good luck!!!

 

[surf]

Hey Bill,

One of my favorite scratchers is a narrow bladed triangular hoe. Sharp pointed blade, approximately 3inch wide X 4in long, cut down handle to about 30-36 length, depending how you like it.

Something like this:

They will easily move through oyster / clam shells & are easily controllable so as not to damage adjoining artifacts or glass...

Good luck, sir.

​

 

[CASPER-2]

NICE HAUL

 

[Zodiacdiverdave]

Dave - sorry I forgot to respond to your question, but it's probably been answered in my reply to joeyfresh below. But in a nutshell, yes, it's just down the slope about 50 yards from a knoll where we've found a lot of brick and iron which we assume was the site of some kind of 18th century structure.

Thanks Bill,
Dave