Got an invite from my hunting buddy Ron to help him dig out some colonial foundations he discovered here in central Virginia recently. We headed out there last Sunday, a sunny and mild day. After using the probe a little, we found two spots and went at it. My first hole was not very productive- a few pipe stems, some broken glass, etc. After several hours, I filled it back in and started a new hole on the other side of the structure. I had only dug about a foot down when a very good sign appeared- an intact handmade pottery piece! I dug down to a brick floor, which was about three and a half feet below ground level. It was all hand digging with my Lesche digger after that. Two intact pipe bowls and many broken ones and pipe stems were dug. Lots of glass and plenty of bones were littered throughout the hole, as well as many nails. For many pieces of pewter, I was too late- they were just powdered remnants in the soil. One piece of pewter that hadn't yet met that fate was an interesting button with what appears to be a barrel on it. I'm still working on the preservation and identification of that one.
There's a little story behind the colonial buckle. I had just dug something and was wondering if it was metal, so I got my pin pointer out and determined that it was. Just for the heck of it, I touched the pin pointer to the wall of dirt in front of me, and it sounded off. The odds were 100-1 that it was a nail, but I carefully carved away the dirt and there it was- a colonial shoe buckle!
The first good find of the day, and maybe the best. It's handmade and retains most of its original color. Not sure what its original use was.
Two intact bowls and pieces from many other pipes.
For a minute with that neck poking out, I thought I might have a whole bottle. That's a bone handle on the bottom.
The shoe buckle. I just picked off the encrusted dirt.
A pipe bowl still in the side wall that turned out to be intact.
The pewter button. Probably 18th century British.
Some of the pottery pieces. Many different types surfaced.
The interesting iron pieces.
The second hole which produced almost everything I dug. This was about 45 minutes before it started getting dark and we had to leave. It was a lot of work and a lot of fun!
This weekend is supposed to be very nice- upper 50s- so I'll be hitting my CW/colonial field at some point. HH!
-Jason
There's a little story behind the colonial buckle. I had just dug something and was wondering if it was metal, so I got my pin pointer out and determined that it was. Just for the heck of it, I touched the pin pointer to the wall of dirt in front of me, and it sounded off. The odds were 100-1 that it was a nail, but I carefully carved away the dirt and there it was- a colonial shoe buckle!
The first good find of the day, and maybe the best. It's handmade and retains most of its original color. Not sure what its original use was.
Two intact bowls and pieces from many other pipes.
For a minute with that neck poking out, I thought I might have a whole bottle. That's a bone handle on the bottom.
The shoe buckle. I just picked off the encrusted dirt.
A pipe bowl still in the side wall that turned out to be intact.
The pewter button. Probably 18th century British.
Some of the pottery pieces. Many different types surfaced.
The interesting iron pieces.
The second hole which produced almost everything I dug. This was about 45 minutes before it started getting dark and we had to leave. It was a lot of work and a lot of fun!
This weekend is supposed to be very nice- upper 50s- so I'll be hitting my CW/colonial field at some point. HH!
-Jason
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I need to start considering pit digging at our Colonial sites. It makes me wonder what we are missing. 
Thanks for sharing your dig, Jason. 
