additional finds from the "flask privy pit" and the closing chapter of "unearthing chicago"

as mentioned earlier, after discussing my recent urban privy find with several people in the field (e.g., historians, archaeologists, chicago bottle collectors and so on), there is very little doubt that i have come across the oldest known/documented chicago urban privy pit, with artifacts pulled from various "pockets" dating to the late 1830's-1850's.

most of the nearby mid-19th century pockets a few feet higher than the flasks, flow blue and mochaware contained artifacts from the 1850's. the bottles were open-pontiled at the very bottom, but as i moved upward, fragments were showing iron pontil scars. aside from the flasks, i am utterly obsessed with the vibrantly colored mochaware found near the flasks. the vibrant polychromatic color scheme is just remarkable, especially with the "cat's eye" pattern bowl fragment shown bellow.

finding the second aqua scroll flask (fragment) with an open-pontil scar base was truly a shocker. granted, these unearthed finds are all essentially fragments, but i could care less. i'm not motivated by money or the need to find and sell. i just feel this pressing obligation to find any and all fragments from this rare, once-in-a-lifetime privy site.

i really hope this large assemblage or collection will be accepted as a donation to the chicago history museum or some other organization, once i'm finished documenting/photographing it for the closing chapter of my second book, "unearthing chicago."