Privy digging is the process of locating and investigating the contents of defunct outhouse vaults. The purpose of privy digging is the salvage of antique bottles and everyday household artifacts from the past. Privy digging is a form of historical digging and is often conducted on private residential properties. Construction sites and major developments around older areas of towns and cities are also likely places to look for evidence of privies. Historical contractors (privy diggers who dare to enter into contracts enabling them to investigate vaults on commercial or industrial properties) are also engaging in privy digging. Privies are also called pits, holes, and chambers. In some locations, like New York City, vaults are sometimes referred to as “wells”, due to their appearance and often considerable depth. In these instances well digging is synonymous with privy digging.
Academic controversies There are controversies regarding who should be permitted to investigate private residential privies and the historical significance of what is found in them. From a conventional academic perspective, it is assumed that all privies contain vital and unique information which cannot be found elsewhere and that a costly forensic approach is required. Privy diggers who are not professional archaeologists are labeled “looters”, even while working on sites which are in the process of being destroyed or have already been examined and worked by archaeologists. While both parties are engaging in similar activities, each is confronted with very different logistics, constraints, and unique opportunities for genuine discovery. US academics responding to the threat of privy digging, dump digging, metal detecting, and so on have helped create laws protecting objects of a certain age, usually only 50–100 years old, from exploitation by opportunistic looters and other thieves that disturb historic context in pursuit of treasure. Laws intended to safeguard legitimate national and cultural treasures are applied to any item found while digging.
Privies Privies can be constructed of stone, brick, or wood and vary considerably from place to place. Some privy vaults are less than 2 feet deep and others are more than 25 feet. They can be as narrow as 2 feet or as wide as 10 feet, particularly in urban settings where a large privy shed with multiple doors and inner compartments once stood. Some vaults are cylindrical, these are usually made of stone or brick. Though there are cylindrical privies that are actually wooden barrels placed in the ground. Others are rectangular and commonly made of stone, brick, or wood. Many shallower rectangular vaults were only wood-lined. Many privies were cleaned out periodically (“dipped”). This routine process addressed the growing concern for foul odors and airborne illnesses which were prevalent at the time. Dipping also provided some of the necessary organic material for the fertilizer industry. Around the time that modern plumbing was installed, many were cleaned out and backfilled with newer material. These dipped vaults do not have an undisturbed night soil layer and the probability of one containing anything of major archaeological importance is extremely low.
Sites
Most privies are located behind the building or buildings which they served. In major urban areas, such as older cities on the US east coast, they are commonly found in the rear section of the residential lot and their size will vary considerably from place to place. Old fire insurance maps, such as Sanborn, indicate that some properties were several lots wide and sometimes had two or more houses within the same boundary line. In these instances only one privy vault may exist for all the houses being considered or one may exist for each. In other cases structures apparently had no outlying property at all. It is assumed that these particular vaults were incorporated into a neighboring lot or perhaps placed within the structure itself somewhere, possibly the basement. Some insurance maps show outbuildings and sheds, and occasionally privy outlines too. For example, 19th century insurance maps for New York City generally do not have markings indicating privy placements and some for New Jersey do. However, when researching the latter, privy diggers find no evidence that a privy ever existed where the map outline indicates one should be.
Some privy diggers also research excavation sites where old houses and other buildings, such as factories, saloons, and hotels once were. The use of heavy machinery can lead to indications of stone or brick structures and other subterranean anomalies being unearthed. This in turn can lead to discoveries of privies, cisterns, root cellars, and trash pits. Managers and owners of construction sites may not accommodate privy diggers on their missions to salvage on these sites. Some of them are enthusiasts themselves and agreements can be formed allowing diggers to search for privy vaults and landfill deposits. Some historical diggers focus exclusively on these kinds of sites and over time develop good relations with various development companies. Permission to salvage on these sites can lead to remarkable discoveries with relatively little physical effort but this is the exception to the rule.
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