Bill D. (VA)
Silver Member
My good buddies Stan and Kenny Mac invited me back for another pit dig yesterday, and we picked up right where I dug a whole 17[SUP]th[/SUP] century bottle 2 weeks ago. We knew we were in a nice little hotspot, and since KMac and myself had already recovered whole bottles from this site we insisted on putting Stan in what we felt was going to be the prime spot to dig. It wasn’t long after he jumped in that a lot of early bases and tops to late 17[SUP]th[/SUP] century black glass bottles started to appear. While digging his way to the bottom of the pit Stan came across several complete clay pipe bowls along with a “Samuel Lugg” bottle seal which is the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] of this type to come from this area. Lugg was apparently a late 1600s merchant who must have sold his wine to the plantation owner living there at that time. As Stan neared the end of the debris layer at 3-4 feet down he encountered another bottle top that was sticking out of the dirt in a completely upright position which was a little odd. As Stan carefully removed the dirt from around this piece, the bottle shoulder slowly started to appear, and we started to feel the excitement building. Although this kind of discovery usually ends in disappointment, it was not to be this time and Stan soon plucked a complete and near perfect example of a transitional onion bottle similar in style to the one I recently dug not more than 2 feet away. I can’t tell you how exciting of a moment that was for all of us, particularly since this was Stan’s first intact colonial bottle after more than 30 years of digging. Definitely a day none of us will ever forget. I was digging right next to Stan, and although I had a decent amount of early bottle parts show up, no whole ones came to light. But I had one brief moment of excitement when I thought I might duplicate Stan’s find, but it was not to be. However, I was able to recover over 100 pipe stems and bowls along with some of the usual pottery and other items. But this day belonged to Stan who took home the coveted golden horseshoe award for the digger of the day. All 3 of us moved a tremendous amount of dirt and other hard-packed debris, and although we were to the point of exhaustion at the end of an 8 hour dig, it was all worthwhile just to be able to witness our friend make a top-shelf bucket list find. What a day, and congrats again Stan!!
Update: After cleaning up the pipe bowls I found maker's marks on 3 of them on the side of the heel. One was a "W", another was a "W" topped by a crown, and the last was "A-S" which I believe represents Ann Smith (yes, a female pipemaker) who was in business from 1672 to 1696 which coincides with the period the bottle dates to.
And here's a shot of some of Stan's finds from Saturday. All these artifacts came from a single 4x4x4 ft hole. Pretty incredible day!!
Update: After cleaning up the pipe bowls I found maker's marks on 3 of them on the side of the heel. One was a "W", another was a "W" topped by a crown, and the last was "A-S" which I believe represents Ann Smith (yes, a female pipemaker) who was in business from 1672 to 1696 which coincides with the period the bottle dates to.
And here's a shot of some of Stan's finds from Saturday. All these artifacts came from a single 4x4x4 ft hole. Pretty incredible day!!
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