Digging a test pit in my backyard in Topeka turned up a 1940s bottle dump, not the old homestead I was hoping for

Stella Fisher · 2026-11-01T10:45:06.44243+00:00

Last month I finally got permission to dig a 1x1 meter test pit behind my garage, since the 1880s plat map showed an outbuilding there. About 40 cm down I hit a layer of glass and rusted tin, and after two weekends of screening I pulled out 63 bottles, mostly milk and medicine types with dates stamped between 1938 and 1951. My theory is the family that lived here just used the old foundation as a trash hole once the shed came down, which is pretty common but still a letdown when you want house footings. The lesson for me was that a plat map shows what was planned, not what survived, and trash pits can sit right on top of older stuff. Has anyone else had a test pit fill up with mid-century junk before you could even reach the layer you wanted, and did you keep digging or move the pit over?

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Digging a test pit in my backyard in Topeka turned up a 1940s bottle dump, not the old homestead I was hoping for | Archaeology Discoveries - HW Forums