First Time Bottle Digging at a 100+ Year Old Dump!

[KensMetalDetectingFinds]

A good friend named Josh shared a bottle dump he discovered before moving out of state. I usually stick to metal detecting, but if you follow my YouTube channel, you'll see that changing—bottle digging is now on the list!

There was so much metal in the ground that a metal detector was only useful for locating the dump itself. Once there, though, it was practically useless—every square inch was packed with metal bits and pieces of all sizes and shapes.

On my first trip, I found some pretty cool bottles, and my second visit turned up even more! My best finds? Two amber Clorox bottles from 1929-1930 and a small 1920s poison bottle—among other treasures... metal compact, broken light switches, model T valves?

My body was wrecked after both outings… and here I thought metal detecting for 4 hours was rough! Bottle digging is no joke. Stay tuned—I'll be posting videos of these digs soon!

 

[Dangerranger60]

Good finds! I have dug up a few dumps. you never know what you will find.

 

[KensMetalDetectingFinds]

Good finds! I have dug up a few dumps. you never know what you will find.

Funny thing is I think I found an Indian head penny (it was corroded) and proceed to lose it in the dirt! I went back the second time with a 3/8" 5 gallon bucket strainer and still could not find it There was to much metal to use a metal detector or even a pinpointer!

 

[LovestheShiny!]

Nice finds! That amber POISON bottle with rounded back looks hand blown, while the others are screw top or machine made corkers. That style of poison was used by Eli Lilly & Co. of Indianapolis.

 

[KensMetalDetectingFinds]

Nice finds! That amber POISON bottle with rounded back looks hand blown, while the others are screw top or machine made corkers. That style of poison was used by Eli Lilly & Co. of Indianapolis.

I've seen this poison bottle sold for $30+ on eBay and the Clorox sold for about $20 to $35

 

[TheFrood]

In the dump I have near my house I had better results following Archie methods
rather than using a detector... Too many things, too much that wasn't metal.

 

[KensMetalDetectingFinds]

So, what is the Archie method?

 

[TheFrood]

So, what is the Archie method?

Grid out the dig, excavate each square down a specified depth, sift the debris for artifacts, relics, etc.
Use hand tools and small devices to avoid breaking anything you come across. Like painter spatulas,
makeup brushes, etc, to make certain you don't destroy what you are looking for. In non-historic sites
it's overkill, but the reasons why you are cautious still hold.

Not saying that this is the method I used... But in old dump sites I learned to be careful and go slow
cause glass bottles or other fragile "trash" are kind of like humpty dumpty once they break. Definitely
don't go in and stab a shovel into the ground to pull out a heap of dirt. Better scraping across the top
in small layers with a hand trowel or take off an inch or two of surface aggregate with a square tip
shovel instead of just digging in. Deeper isn't necessarily better. The idea is to find the layer where
old timers trash is the best treasure.

 

[GLASSHOPPER1955]

As you found out, it gets harder on the bones the older you get. I have been digging since Summer 1969 so I know the feeling. If you watch some of the diggers on YT you will get the feel of how most dig. On grass, look for depressions. In woods many times there may be some debris or broken glass/metal. The ground is usually softer where a trash hole was dug, use a probe to find the perimeter, dig down to close to the bottles are and then start using smaller tools. Most trash holes have metal so yes the detector won't be much help. BTW one of the best diggers presently online is Tom Askjem ("Lost Horizons") out west. Crick Diggers is also entertaining too.