Pooping in the shadow of Vesuvius

[Onasander]

http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/11565

 

This reminds me of when I was 13 or 14, I was a volunteer on a archeological dig at fort steuben, and the professors thought nothing of me, and so tossed me into the square the outhouse to a late 19th Century Pig Farm.... I started finding cool stuff like a mechanized music jewelry box..... got kicked out fast by the assisstant professor and was given a foot thick concrete parking lot to hack through off to the side.... I got through it, only to discover pills dated to 30 years earlier, minus one day, in a pristine pharmacy bottle in a gap underneath, thereby exactingly dating when the parking lot was laid down.

 

Whenever I look at a place, I look for, as well as ask where the old outhouse was. Why? Because that is where the treasure is at!

 

Which is true. In my opinion, there is only one spot we should even bother digging, and thats the latrines and garbage heaps. Everything else lacks intimacy and is rather generic. Foundations, mosaic, dead people, etc... what a bore.

[Crispina]

I live a one room schoolhouse built probably in the 1870s, at least this present building appears to be from this time; and an original outhouse is still on the property. It was still in use up until late 1940s/early 1950s when indoor plumbing was put into the then school/dwelling. Pretty sure some of the structure may have been rebuilt over the years altho it still had it's cedar shake roof up until about 6yrs. ago when it pretty much succumbed and I had it shingled. The pit had been lined with concrete at some point also. As far as I know it has stood in its present spot all these years. When I moved in I found the pit filled with junk from the PO, and I've never ventured to clear it out. For all I know someone may have also filled it up with cement.  If not, it would be interesting to see what articles were thrown in or lost by school children over the years. 

 

I once dug up an old ink well where a large porch used to be across the front and found an Indian Head penny while working in a flower bed - and a Boy Scout ring!

[Onasander]

I'm guessing they didn't dig out the old latrine, then concrete it up and then reuse it, more than likely they abandoned the original, and started off with a new one, concerted over.

 

Check with a local historian for the old codes..... they may of required all new courthouses to be converted over if they were effecting the water table. 

 

If you have a historian interested in the school's history, you can get a exploratory square dug on your best guess for the original location by a local archeologist.

 

You can live in Nambia for all I know.

[Onasander]

The Indian Head Penny means USA.... should of come to me earlier.

 

Betting there are a bunch more around..... some dimes from the 1930s are worth ALOT, I would sweep the area between the outhouse and school with a metal detector, they are quite cheap now.

[Crispina]

I've been here 34yrs. and have never brought in a metal detector.  Alot of what I find when digging is shards of a thick blue and white china. I save them. Also bits of rusted metal parts, a horse shoe, and bullets(!).  Maybe the bullets were used to shoot the china dishes. When breaking apart the concrete floor of the small front porch one year we found a buggy axle used as rebar. 

 

Yes, I am in USA - Ohio.  The Indian Head penny I regretfully gave to a collector. Wish I had kept it.  Like you, I suspect there are more coins scattered about but then again there may have not been that many children who could afford even a penny in their pocket, especially looking at old class photos of them. They seemed very poor.

[Onasander]

I live across from Steubenville (Stupidville).

 

Most broken China I find is along rivers, where 19th century dumps are. Things I find along it are butchered ox bones, giant oysters, weathered bricks, and bottles. I found whiskey and a bottle of oil for Franklin Stoves, both still full. Also found random stuff as well, but that is the norm.

 

The shards.... not that important unless you find them exclusively in one spot.

 

I would recommend the metal detector, seriously, some of the coins are worth money. Contact your local historian as well. If you live near stupidville, the fort has a decent historical society.

 

Any bricks or shards with initials or logos can be dated and traced. Usually on the bottom of the plates, pale blue or green print.