Tips On Metal Detecting Research - Footwork
Stone Walls
The impressive thing about New England is its stone walls that extend for miles through the forest. You might wonder why anyone would have gone to such great labor building stone fences through thick forest; they wind over steep wooded mountains and into the deepest glens. The truth is that when they were built, no forest was there as it had been cut down. The stone walls were no more than neatly piled rocks, gathered during the farm clearings of the eighteenth century. Over years, the abandoned farm lands have been reclaimed by the second and third growth forest.
Stone Wall Remains in the Woods
Stone walls were usually topped with one or two rails of wood which have since disappeared into fireplaces as fuel, or rotted away with the years. Stone fences were not only property divisions but also did the chore of keeping cattle in. During the hot summer days, stone walls provided a shade for resting farmer.
While metal detecting around a cellar hole or foundation, it is important to search the areas on both sides of the stone wall that encloses the property. Kids used to play on the fence railings and lost coins. Also being in close proximity to the house, the stone wall would be a good landmark for stashing treasures in it or near it. Many coin caches and other relics have been recovered from the stone walls by treasure hunters.
First-Growth Trees
The oldest homesteads were usually graced with one big first-growth tree. Such trees were also left standing on the farming lands as "markers" - that is why some of them still can be seen in the forest that has taken the farming fields back. All farmed land was once barren of trees except for these markers and the few farmhouse giants that remained.
Always check out the area around a first-growth tree or large decayed stump, in 90% cases, you would find a foundation or cellar hole.
This First-Growth Tree Struck by Lightning Lead Me and My Buddy Rodney to the Homesite in Upstate New York
Rodney Standing on the Edge of Large Cellar Hole Located Near the Tree Trunk...
...Where This 1836 New York Militia Belt Buckle Was Found
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