Scott,

Just think about what kind of MOTIVATION would have induced a 
late-19th-century person to throw-away several partially full bottles of 
liqour??? Perhaps a person who had undergone a 
religious/temperance/alcoholic conversion, and was 
"casting-out-the-demon rum?"  Perhaps a thoroughly disgusted 
family-member/landlord/pastor. Perhaps a survivor fearing death from 
contagion of drinking from those bottles? In any case, intriguing 
questions for further research.

Bob Skiles


On 4/7/2015 12:39 PM, Bob Skiles wrote:
> Scott,
>
> I think Bill certainly points-out an excellent possibility to explain 
> the presence of the mattress ... disposition of everything that had 
> come in contact with someone who had died by a contagious disease I 
> would think should be an avenue for further archival/historical research.
>
> Bob Skiles
>
> On 4/7/2015 12:31 PM, Bill Liebeknecht wrote:
>> Scott,
>>
>> In 1999 Hunter Research, Inc. excavated a couple of late 19th century
>> privies in Newark, New Jersey.  In one example there were many complete
>> items (such as bottles, drinking vessels and ceramics) including some
>> catholic religious items such as rosary beads, a complete glass cruet 
>> and a
>> glass crucifix candle holder (in an Irish neighborhood) suggesting 
>> someone
>> had died and in order to prevent the spread of a contagious disease, the
>> contents of the room, where the person passed away were disposed of 
>> in the
>> privy.  The privy was no longer needed as city water and sewer had 
>> recently
>> been connected.
>>
>> Bill Liebeknecht, M.A., RPA
>> Principal Investigator
>> Hunter Research, Inc.
>> Trenton, New Jersey
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
>> Williams, Scott
>> Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2015 12:37 PM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Privies and house abandonment/cleanout
>>
>> We recently excavated a late 19th century privy that was
>> packed-literally-with artifacts. What is curious to me is the range 
>> of the
>> artifact types: besides the usual medicine bottles and broken bits of
>> pottery were whole liquor bottles (some half full), twelve shoes of
>> different sizes, at least one book, a metal pan, lots of metal cans, 
>> other
>> household goods such as condiment and perfume containers, and mattress
>> springs.  We're thinking the privy was filled after the house was 
>> vacated,
>> either due to the death of the resident or their eviction.  The material
>> doesn't look like it was deposited in the privy over a long period, 
>> as if
>> the privy was abandoned and then the hole was used for trash disposal 
>> over
>> time.
>>
>> The privy is located in an area of packed glacial till, meaning that
>> excavating the privy shaft would have taken some effort and filling 
>> it with
>> trash while it was still in use seems counterintuitive (and assuming 
>> no one
>> stuffs a mattress into a privy they are still using).  A nearby privy 
>> of the
>> same age was more "typical", in that it was not packed full of 
>> artifacts and
>> had a much more limited range of materials in it.
>>
>> Has anyone seen examples of privies that appear to have been 
>> purposefully
>> used for one large disposal event, such as clearing out a house that 
>> became
>> suddenly vacant? My experience excavating privies is limited.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Scott S. Williams
>> Cultural Resources Program Manager, WSDOT
>> Ph: 360.570.6651
>> [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
>> WSDOT Cultural Resources
>> Program<http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Environment/CulRes/default.htm> on 
>> the Web
>>
>> "Development is not stifled by history, but enriched by it."
>>
>