Trench Lines & Skirmish Pits

V

vegasharp

Established Users
Hi Gang.

I have remnants of trench lines and several well-defined skirmish pits on my property. I will send along some photos when the posting problem is repaired.

Question - How deep would a trench be ? How deep would a skirmish pit be ? With the limited "reach" of detectors, would it be worthwhile for me to dig these out ? Kind of like "hut digging " ?

All opinions are appreciated ! Thanks !

Rodney
 
I read an article about a detectorist who hunted trench lines. He would dig out a foot of dirt and hunt. He found canteens and bayonets on a regular basis doing that. I'd say it's worth a try.

jimmyk in Missouri
 
First of all...way cool to have them on your property! If it were mine I would dig them. But.....if they were mine, and this is only my opinion, I would also try to do some historical reconstruction on them when done digging them. That's just my editorial on it.

If you decide to dig them then be ready to really really dig! jimmy's idea of a foot at a time is a good one but will be slow going! I might build a big sifter then just start digging, labeling where each find came from and at what depth! My guess is that you will have to go at least 3-6 feet before really getting into the "old" original dirt that was in the lines. I recently was in some gun pits, well..January actually, and tried to dig them like that. Went 4 feet before I even saw anything that looked old!

Over all sounds like a great project to start at if ya' need help I'll shovel dirt!!!! :D :eek:
Travis
 
sifter

Travis,
How big does the screen need to be. I have a creek where supposedly an artillery wagon turned over. At one time the bullets were picked up by the hundreds, and I had thought about sifting and seeing if any were left?
Steve,
I never had had the opportunity to find a trench site much less dig one but hope you find a lot.
Tim
 
In Steve's case I would build one at least 4'X4' with 3 or 4 overlapping chicken wire pieces and on a swinging pivot to shake it!. Big enough to let the dirt drop but keep buttons and larger items in. For doing what you want to do then something smaller I would think. Maybe 2'X2' with a fine screen material that will leave the rocks, dirt and bullets but let the water drain out! Then pick through what's on the screen! Actually a bucket with many small holes punched in the bottom would work. That way you could pick it and gently shake it around!
Travis
 
Hardware cloth

All -

When I was a runt my dad would build my rabbbit, squirrel, and Bird cages from 1/4" "Hardware cloth", which is a galvanized square mesh. I'd put a layer of that on a tray below the larger mesh and get "two-fer" from my screening. Hand screens (a kitchen variety will sometimes make a suitable substitute) are handy too.

Ya'll enjoy.

Bill
 
Hi Guys,

Thanks for the input. Sorry that I'm so late replying. Got that job thing going on . . .

Travis : Come on down, I've got plenty of shovels ! :grin:

I have built and used screens. You can find various sizes at most hardware stores ( not Home Depot or Lowes ). I have a 2 foot by 3 foot box with some 1/4 inch mesh in the bottom. Works well.

I'm with you guys about the approach: take it easy, about a foot at a time, shifting and detecting. I bought a used book on archaeological digging. It gives an great approach for cutting away and preserving the various layers of dirt. It also shows how to determine the variations on the strata of the soils. That way, I can determine what soil were there always and what is "fill dirt ".

I also have a welder friend of mine making me a probe. I stole this idea from the privy diggers ( want to see some wild stuff, check out Eddy's Privy Page on the net ). The probe can be used to feel for variations and depths of soil changes. I hope that it will help me locate the trench walls.

One of the first things that I found here was an iron spike, most likely used to hold the head logs into place. It was about 2 feet in front of these trench lines.

Oh well, guess I better start digging. :D Thanks to all !

Rodney
 
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