Happy New Year, Histarchers,
    I wonder if anyone has seen a feature similar to one we've just
encountered here at the Augusta Arsenal site.  It is a circular brick
sump, vertical walls, depth is 2.25 m. and diameter is 2.6 m. (8.5').
It was covered with a shallow brick dome.  The walls were two bricks
thick and some of the brick was apparently laid with mortar, some
without.  Every seventh course was a header course.

    There was no bottom of brick and the feature sits directly on a
layer of very hard clay.  The feature was subsurface prior to grading
for a new building and the soil over the clay and surrounding the
feature is a soft sugary sand.  Except for the brick, there were no
artifacts directly associated and there seems to have been no attempt to
fill the feature before abandonment.

    Our state archaeologist (with experience on western military sites)
has seen similar structures from the post Civil War period and I
wondered if others may have seen such features.  If so, I would
appreciate hearing about sources of information or your experience with
them.

    Any thoughts?

    Christopher Murphy
    Augusta State University