At an early 20th century logging camp I am working on in Canada, I have
a large rectangular wood-lined pit with dimensions a little larger than
you have. I am interpreting it as a feature for water storage.

Bob Muckle

>>> [log in to unmask] 08/31/04 4:48 PM >>>
Hello,

I was told that this list was the perfect place to inquire about this.
So, I
hope everyone is willing to help solve a mystery!

My name is Tanya Laird and I am an archaeology student in Texas. My
class is
working on a site just outside of Austin, on the Boggy Creek Farm. On
this
site is a house built in the 1840s. The house is on the original build
site.
Outside of the house, off the front porch, under a bedroom window,
beginning
approximately 1ft from the base of the house we have a mysterious pit.

The pit is brick lined with a cap of cement around the perimeter. The
brick
is the same brick used in the foundation of the house. The dimensions
are
roughly 3.5'x8'x6'. The six foot depth is the current depth, no further
excavation has been done because of concern of the structual safety.
But,
our crew chief thinks we've found the bottom. The pit was filled with
sand
in the 1930's to create a winter vegetable garden. Before that it
appears to
have been used as a trash pit. However, the original use of this pit
remains
a mystery to us. It's closeness to the house is baffling. No ladders,
planks, hinges or locks or evidence of stairs have currently been found.
Just glass bottles from the early 20th century.

Some students think it was a privvy, but it is so close to the house and
other than being brick lined and having bottles in it does not seem to
have
any other signs of having been used as such (ie, no clay bowls, no lime,
etc). It has also been suggested that it was a root cellar or storage
pit,
but it is on the opposite side of the house from the kitchen (though
that
may not ultimately matter) and there are no signs of stairs (though a
ladder
may have been used). A student hypothesized a cistern, but I thought
these
were round and above ground. This site is a class project, but most of
us
have experience with other site types (mesoamerican, agean, etc) so
mid-nineteenth century American farmstead isn't really in our
repretoire.
We've had some outside archaeologists have a look at it, but they've got
no
clue either.

Does this type of feature sound familiar to anyone? Or, could someone
give
me a list of what we should be looking for to prove or reject any of the
hypotheses?

I would be greatful for any information you have that might help us
solve
our mystery.

Thank you for your time and consideration,
Tanya Laird


"All our science, our technology, our mathematics - nothing is unique
about
them. These things will be repeated by any sufficiently advanced
civilization...But, there is only one golden death mask of Tutankhamen,
only
one Room of Lilies. It is through our art that we really live and
breathe.
If I could pick only one thing that could survive on this earth and
speak
for our species, it would be our art." -- an archaeologist

_________________________________________________________________
Get ready for school! Find articles, homework help and more in the Back
to
School Guide! http://special.msn.com/network/04backtoschool.armx