hunting old cellar holes

[Wyatt Earp]

OK......We've located the site of an old cabin...long gone (probably log) and all that remains is the chimney and mantle of nicely chiseled sandstone blocks 14 inches square and of varying lengths, and a seperate cellar hole only a few feet deep, with a few hand cut sandstone steps down into it. It looks as though it might have been a root cellar or spring house. There's an old road bed....never paved, and a couple sandstone steps up to the site from the road bed.

If you were me....what areas would you detect first? Do you assume the place has been hunted already and scour the roadbed?(after making sure there are no caches in the cellar hole and within the confines of the cabin)...or begin outside the buildings? The site is in a wooded area....and there are plenty of leaves but no weeds.

I'm curious as to what approach you would use to search this site. Has anybody ever seen a website that would aid in dating the site from the masonry? It would seem to me to be mid to late 1800s....but could it be earlier if the sandstone is very nicely cut? There's a springhouse on an 1859 estate house near here that features similarly hand chiseled sandstone in its construction.

Wyatt

[robzombie852]

ide do inside the celler holes then the area around them. even if it was hunted before, there is no way they got everything, not even close.

[Wyatt Earp]

The cabin has no cellar at all.....does that help date the site, or is the stonework and lack of a cellar simply a commentary on the aflluence of the builders/owners? Lots of questions, I know.

I, myself have not yet been to the site. My son went yesterday to find it....acting on directions that I gave him as related to me by a local fox hunter. It was on the opposite side of the road than where I was told....and the chimney's smaller than I was told it was(the guy hadn't been there in years)

I guess maybe another question is.....Is there another similar site nearby?

Wyatt

[PAPPY]

WYATT, Those steps leading down to the cellar is just the tip of the iceberg. The cellar would have been away from the house. There would have to have been a cellar in order for the homeowner to have a place to keep food. The cellar has more than likely been filled with dirt over the years and if you dig it out you may be surprised what you may find. Should located old bottles, coins etc. Needs to be sifted. PAPPY

[Wyatt Earp]

Interesting too...is the fact that there are no timbers at all....they are completely gone. It could have been torn down, burned, or simply rotted.

I'm anxious to find the privy.

Wyatt

[spanishsilver]

If you find the cellar I have had luck detecting the south side and the path to the well.

[robzombie852]

hey rich hows it goin? when did you become a member here? did you get my message at the hole? i got the reale today, its great, thanks.

[spanishsilver]

I have been poping in once and a while as a lurker and decided heck its time to contribute. Cingrats on the reale bud.

[robzombie852]

thanks bud, hey this is a great site to be a part of, there are tons of great guys and gals here.