First dig, have some questions

[robwarner]

Hey, I just completed my first ever dig, a stone lined cistern in my backyard. I found a lot of bottles, (actually over 400 in the 10 foot hole and over 200 bones), and had a lot of fun, but I'm not satisfied. Thats because the oldest bottle I found was from 1890 and 80% were from 1910-1950. This makes a lot less sense when you consider my house was built in the 1790's. So what gives? Was it cleaned out in the 50's? Or since it's stone (and brick on the top) does that mean it was built in the 20th century? Also where should I look for the privy? I guess it would be down hill, was there any standard as to how far from the house it would be? So many questions, I know but any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[bootyhoundpa]

hi rob, welcome to the forum..... i used to dig bottles like 35 years ago..... as far as your cistern not having anything older than 1890s i would say that is when they found a more reliable water source and stopped using it to hold rain water.... if while you dug it out the age of the bottles got older the deeper you got then i would say it probably had not been disturbed...... and as far as the privy question-they could be anywhere ,however if the land owner had his choice he would be smart to put it downwind of the house for obvious reasons--in my area that is usually towards the east.....my town actually had an ordinance requiring privys be 2 ft off the rear property line.... sure enough i found 3 privys right in a row and a 4th and 5th closer to the house.... no pun intended but privy digging can be a real crap shoot..... the oldest ones in my back yard were packed pretty good ..lots of broken stuff including a few i put the probe thru.....mine went back to 1880s..... if you live or the house was in a country setting you are less likely to find alot as the farmers were pretty self sufficient.... i the old part of the city is always better due to proximating to old time merchants and if the early inhabitants were drunks all the better...... look for small 4x4 depressions in your yard.. thats where i would start probing...also be extra carful not to disturb an underground utilities like electric wires,sewer pipes, water pipes,etc,etc.... good luck...... probing works alot easier after a few days of heavy rain.....