✅ SOLVED What the heck are these?

[nigelrex]

For the life of me, I can't figure out what, if anything, is significant about these banks going down a nearby hill leading to flat ground and creek within a Civil War campsite where buckles were found. In one row, the bank is about 2.5 feet tall, while most others are 1-2 feet high. I'd say the rows are a 100+ feet in length. Best I can tell, all consist of some combination of dirt, rocks (majority), and clay.

I'm trying to work out the story of our land before creating a video on local Civil War history (hopefully w/relics) for my daughter's 3rd-grade class to view in a few weeks.

Thanks much!

 

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[KeyaPaha]

I'd think they are firing breastworks.

 

[TreasureCatto]

I'd think they are firing breastworks.

I can concur. Just what remains of them.

 

[DCMatt]

I'd think they are firing breastworks.

Agree. Rifle pits.

 

[Bruce R]

I would be curious to see what they look like from the air, in the fall when the leaves are gone.

 

[nagant]

any lidar available?

 

[ToddsPoint]

If those are rifle pits there should be no shortage of dropped slugs. Gary

 

[nigelrex]

In this context, I don't know what lidar is...

 

[nigelrex]

Couple questions: At what depth would you say the slugs are at this point? Does the dense rock get in the way of detecting with my cheap machine? Any other suggestions?

I ask because initial signals are absent, perhaps suggesting this area right on the edge of our subdivision was picked over quite a few times.

Thanks

 

[Georgivs]

The breastworks near me look like that now, except the ones that go down hill, they've become gullies.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Now I'm no US Civil War buff being in Ontario, but my first thought was a log chute.
Seeing as they're located on "banks going down a nearby hill leading to flat ground and creek" this might figure as well.

Unless they're running parallel to the creek, then they likely would be CW related.

Dave

 

[nigelrex]

Yes, they're running parallel (or very close to parallel) to the creek.

 

[bowwinkles]

It appears that the forest there is young and those tracks could very well be from heavy logging equipment and made some years back.

 

[nigelrex]

Now that I think about it, they run parallel but also intersect after the creek goes to the right around a bend and forward.

 

[nigelrex]

Rifle pit follow-up

All, I spend some time in the rifle pits yesterday seeking to better understand the history of our backyard woods. First, I pulled a large iron stake out of one of the breastworks.

12" in length
coil body
red plastic cap w/the word "Traverse" engraved in it
cap/head was ~8" down, buried in clay under dirt and rocks

Relevant or otherwise, a traverse is a "mound of earth used to protect gun positions from explosion or to defilade the inside of a field work or fortification." Not news to you guys.

Our neighborhood was built in the 90s. Farming seems to go back to at least the early 1900s. The plastic certainly doesn't look 150 years old.

Second, I found this tiny bullet in another breastwork nearby. The length is ~1 cm. Possible .31 Colt? Or not.

I'd appreciate any thoughts, i.e. do you still think these are breastworks/rifle-pits?

 

[Goodyguy]

Survey stake

Traverse is a method in the field of surveying to establish control networks. It is also used in geodesy. Traverse networks involve placing survey stations along a line or path of travel, and then using the previously surveyed points as a base for observing the next point.