Tanya:
          Others will probably have more to say about your interesting
feature. I would only point out that cisterns are not
necessarily above ground; in fact, I assume they are usually below ground.
Being so close to the house might imply
a cistern for rainwater off of the house itself.
                                                         Bob Schuyler

At 06:48 PM 8/31/2004 -0500, you wrote:
>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

Robert L. Schuyler
University of Pennsylvania Museum
3260 South Street
Philadelphia, PA l9l04-6324

Tel: (215) 898-6965
Fax: (215) 898-0657
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