Brought a magnet to a dig site and got way more than I bargained for

I was helping out at a small volunteer dig near Fredericksburg, Virginia last weekend. The lead archaeologist mentioned they were finding a ton of tiny iron fragments in one grid, so I threw a cheap magnet on a string into my bag. After a few passes over the sifted dirt, I pulled out 12 square nails and a buckle piece that no one had spotted by hand. It saved hours of sifting and the crew leader said they'd start using magnets on all the remaining test pits. Has anyone else tried something simple like that to speed up screening on a site?

2 comments

2 Comments

henrygrant8d agoMost Upvoted

Those square nails are usually mid 1800s at the latest, not colonial era like some folks think. Ive seen people get excited over them assuming they're super old but really they were common right up until the 1890s or so. Still a cool find though, and the buckle piece could be older depending on the design. That magnet trick is solid, Ive heard of guys using them on battlefields to pull out mini balls and such. Just watch out for modern trash too, those magnets dont discriminate.

ryan7198d ago

Man, that magnet trick really is no joke. I remember one time I was out with my buddy and his kid, just messing around in a old field, and that thing snagged a rusted old horseshoe and a bunch of random fence staples before we even got to the good stuff. Ended up talking to a local historian later who pointed out the horseshoe was probably 1880s based on the shape, which lines up with what @henrygrant was saying about those nails. And yeah, we pulled up three beer cans and a bottle cap too, so it's definitely a mixed bag.