new to bottle digging HELP

[michael1963]

at my dads in ne ohio in the woods there are 2 very small house foundations 1 with celler 1without i was told by an oldtimer they were log cabins in the 1840s both have hand dug stone walled wells any ideas were to look for outhouse or dump site also in the same area there are 2 old mineshafts with alot of crock pieces laying around any help would be appriciated

 

[tonyandlisa]

Michael,

Welcome to the forum. I am new to the forum and Metal Detecting. However I have been a dumpling for the last 35 years or so. Sounds like your site has some real possibilities. Be very careful of the old mine shafts!!! No bottle is worth your life. I would not go into them personally. But you are your own person. Be very careful of possible small cave ins or holes you could fall in or through. Make sure you take a buddy or if you go alone make sure someone knows where you are. Wear PPE especially gloves when digging The first place I would look is at the lay of the land. Ask yourself "Are there any creekbeds, ravines, or sink holes around?" If so, I would look for the crumb trail in the creek bed. I would also look at ravines. Once you have located the dump and start digging, I recommend going to Wal-Mart and purchasing the black plactic garden trowel and scratcher. The metal ones will break, scratch or leave silver marks on your bottles. Wow!!! I wished I lived up that way what a neat thing. I would offer to help!

Lisa