Privy dig part 2

[Crusty Shellback]

So we got back to the privy and dug another foot or so before we reached bottom. We didn't find any more bottles but did find a few bottle stoppers and shards of glass. We cleaned out the sides, corners, nooks and crannies hoping to find a few older bottles but nothing more. So we have come to the conclusion (purely speculation) that the pit was a privy that was re-purposed to be a septic tank of sorts when plumbing became available. We found over 80 whole bottles mostly turn of the century some from the late 1800's some from as new as the 1920's possibly 1930's. There was a ton of rubble, mostly bricks and stone, some coal, some burnt wood and ash. We figure everything we recovered was used to fill in the pit. We don't think we ever found an actual use layer. Some things that were missing from our recovery's were marbles, toys, doll pieces, seeds, coins leading us to believe if it was a privy it was cleaned out very well before being filled in. We came across two pipes entering the pit one was 4 feet down from the top the other was 5 feet down. The top most pipe is iron and the bottom most is non metallic possibly clay or ceramic. Total depth of the pit was about 7 feet deep by 2' wide by 3' long. We believe the bottom is solid natural stone ledge. The sides are brick from the top down 2 or 3 feet in a beehive shape then stone walls below that to the bottom. The pit is right at the property line straight out from the back of the house about 50' out. So we think re-purposed privy but it could be a septic tank, dry well, cistern, or something else. We do hope to find other privy's on the property as the house was built in the early 1700's. Unfortunately the ground is so full of rock that it's nearly impossible to probe. Got some good input after the 1st post but any and all ideas are still welcome as to what this pit was. All in all it was a huge success being the first "privy" dig for myself and my buddy. Thanks for looking!

 

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[Crusty Shellback]

We separated the rubble and sifted everything so as not to miss any small treasures. That's how we found a few bottle stoppers we would have missed other wise. Got lots of good loam out of it.

 

[glass half fool]

It looks like you and your partner did a thorough job of sifting through everything that was removed from the hole . It must have been a tight fit trying to work inside of the less than 2 foot opening. Good luck finding another place to dig there .I think you are right that there must be another hole somoewhere

 

[NJKLAGT]

Awesome dig, so exciting, and thanks for the great pics. But we're gonna need to see some pics of the whole bottles you found! I guess you probably still have to clean them up eh?

Generally that beehive-shaped top means it's a cistern. I'd be curious to know why they built them like that, if anyone knows!

 

[No gold in NY]

Your dig was successful and well documented.
Perhaps someone would have cleaned it out earlier to reuse and never did and a new owner filled it in with the materials you found. I don't think I would like to be in on cleaning out a fresh privy.
Do the pipes in your privy look like they were installed in the original construction or done at a later date?
If i decide to engage the privy vault on my 1860's permission I will take lots of pics and perhaps I will be able to use my trommel to sift the material. Thanks for all your posting.

 

[Crusty Shellback]

It was real tough, coudn't use a shovel! everything came out by hand and in small buckets!

 

[Crusty Shellback]

Yup, still need to clean up the bottles. I will post some for sure, might be a few days though.

 

[Rookster]

Good job. Looks like a lot of work.

 

[Crusty Shellback]

I had to google what a trommel was. I made this sifter very simply using 2x4's and hardware cloth with 1/2" squares. It worked really well.

 

[Crusty Shellback]

Couldn't really be sure about the pipes, the stone walls are solid but crude and weren't coated over with anything, didn't see any mortar around them either though the brick was mortared.

 

[Crusty Shellback]

My back is still screaming at me! haha well worth it though!

 

[Bass]

Wipe those babies off and line them up. I’m ready to see them

 

[kingskid1611]

Holy Crap that looks like a scary place to play....what if the walls would have caved in on you? Other than that I enjoyed the pics and story. I too would be down for digging a privy just not sure if I could lower myself into a small hole that deep without shoring up the walls better....

 

[Crusty Shellback]

OK here are the majority of the bottles I brought home with a quick cleaning.

 

[Crusty Shellback]

I had the same concerns among others, I also got pretty claustrophobic down there, my buddy did the majority of the deep work while I pulled up the buckets and sifted the stuff... We did tie a line to us while we were down there more for the possibility of a false bottom, didn't want to fall through into a 30 foot deep well or anything like that. The walls seemed very very sturdy. I think that beehive shape of the bricks up top add to the strength too. We were very cautious but determined to dig it as well. If there were any signs of walls caving in we could have dug around the outside and made a larger hole but didn't feel we needed to.

 

[No gold in NY]

Two of your finds I like are the poison bottle. never found one of those, and the little stone vase.

Yes, the beehive formation adds strength to the top portion and also requires a smaller cover with less span.

 

[Crusty Shellback]

I especially liked that small stoneware piece too. The poison has a crack in it but you can hardly notice it due to the dark brown color of the glass.

 

[GB1]

nice finds

 

[islamoradamark]

thanks for the follow up story wow thats just a great adventure hats off to you

 

[Crusty Shellback]

Thanks! Hoping to find another older privy on the property in the future.