highly unusual and hard to find antique early nineteenth century wooden sewer pipe joint found at a manhattan dig site. the hewn or carved section would have attached to a longer pipe, comprising an early city waste system. the reddish-brown, mottled wood is likely cypress, and has been cleaned and refinished. hollowed out logs were used for water and sewage conveyance at least 500 years ago in england, and in the 1700's in the united states. the wood piping was sometimes wrapped in steel banding. raw wood was readily available during the nineteenth century and the 3-4 foot lengths could be hollowed out by hand auguring or burning.