# The different layers of a bottle dump?



## msleonas

Can someone explain the layers of the dump and when to stop digging down? The place I have been finding bottles has dirt, then a rusty area, a hard blackish layer then a light colored area which is fairly hard too. Any information would be helpful. thanks


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## rockbot

> ORIGINAL:  msleonas
> 
> Can someone explain the layers of the dump and when to stop digging down? The place I have been finding bottles has dirt, then a rusty area, a hard blackish layer then a light colored area which is fairly hard too. Any information would be helpful. thanks


 
 Kind of a tough question as soil condition and locations vary greatly. What layer do you find the bottles in?

  Around here, I find that older dumps 1890s-1910 have some rust and bottles mixed together along with charcoal, brass and bricks etc. The very bottom usually will have a half inch layer of compact rust with glass shards and below that clay soil. 
 In really old dumps 1840's-1880's the rust is mostly crunchy red colored soil.
 In newer dumps 1920's and up the rust is still in chunks and metal cans still hold their shape.

 I just dig till no signs of use material is present at the bottom then I probe it to make sure its not a clay cap.[] More so for privy digging.


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## Wheelah23

I've got a confusing, annoying dump on my hands too... I can't say I've really learned the topography, but in my case, most of the bottles are (probably) under 6 feet of useless ash. Normally ash is a good thing; but in my dump, it's the bane of my existence! In general, the best thing to look for is anything out of the ordinary. If it's not like normal soil, chances are it's manmade, and worth checking out more. As for where the bottles are in the dump... No way to know until you find them []


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## msleonas

This is the first place I have been to so far, digging wise. I just started a few weeks ago. 
 So basically it varies, but anything that isn't like regular soil means it is part of the original dumping loads?  I found a bottle with rust literally surrounding it. The non-soil type layers are about 6-8 feet from the ground above. I am on an incline digging into the wall of the dump. There is still so much to go through, can't wait to get out there again. Luckily it is basically all dirt, otherwise I would have to wait for the tick season to be over.


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## myersdiggers1998

Dig down till you hit hard packed soil, if in dought dig a little deeper, my dump has bed rock at the bottom,check some of my old posts and you can see how many layers there can be in a dump.


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## myersdiggers1998

heres an example of depth.


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## tigue710

It's all trial and error, you'll have to figure it out.  Once you hit what you think is bottom dig a couple feet more and make sure it is.  Get to know your local soil...


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## kastoo

dark layer - sounds like my dump and mine was compacted and burned


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## KBbottles

Try probing it...


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## ironmountain

Glad I got lucky on the one I'll be digging soon...it's at our hunting camp/grandma's farm house and it's behind the old woodshed...i found a spot that looked "newer" (hand split log bldg. this area was just newer looking) and I asked my father in law if there had been an outhouse there. he asked grandma and she yes, that's the one that was originally for the farm (farm is from mid-late 1800s).  

 Knowing there was one and not being able to find it would drive me nuts..I"d probably have to haul out the MD and see what I could find.


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## msleonas

@KB I am a newbie, not really sure how to do that! LOL!


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## WAHIAWA DIGGER

Just wanted to show a layer of what I've came across in downtown Honolulu... under a parking lot while contractors were performing foundation surveys for our new "Rail" system...


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## WAHIAWA DIGGER

Another view...


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## WAHIAWA DIGGER

Mostly milk shards from Honolulu Dairymen's bottles...


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## WAHIAWA DIGGER

One of the areas...


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## msleonas

Thanks for the pictures!


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## RIBottleguy

A probe is a metal rod diggers use to find dumps and outhouses.  It can also be used to find out how deep dumps are, but is not always reliable.  It it's on a slope it could be really deep, since the original start of the slope might have been 20 feet back and the trash just moved the slope further out (easier to illustrate than describe).  Usually light brown soil is a bottom indicator.  Ash and sand can indicate more below.


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## msleonas

Taylor, thanks for the info. Can you read my post "To dig or not to dig" and tell me what you think? Please & Thank You!


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