6/10/25 Report - Ocatgonal Ring Found in Old Drainage Ditch. 18th Century Food Jars or Bottles Uncovered at Mount Vernon.

 

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report 

Roman bronze octagonal ring found

A Roman octagonal finger ring that looks like a nut without threads has been discovered is a former drainage ditch in Lincolnshire during an excavation by Wessex Archaeology.

It is a ring of the Henig Type IX classification, characterized by a circular internal hoop with polygonal external facets. The facets are usually plain, although a few rare examples have decorations on the exterior flat facets, like this one with the signs of the zodiac. They typically date to between 200 and 400 A.D.

A number of rings of this type have been reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme, most of them found in the south of England. They are much more frequent finds in modern-day Germany. Examples with six, seven and eight facets have been found in gold, silver and copper alloy. This one is particularly heavy.

Here is that link.

Roman bronze octagonal ring found in Lincolnshire – The History Blog

Or for additional detail, here is another link.

Archaeologist Digging Through Ditch Finds Ancient Roman Ring

I always like to check ditches or eroded water runoff areas.

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In the summer of 2023, archaeologists at George Washington's Mount Vernon estate in Virginia made an extraordinary discovery: 18th-century glass jars buried in an old cellar. Even more remarkable, the jars still contained their original contents—preserved fruits sealed for over 250 years. The find is a rare glimpse into everyday colonial life and food preservation practices.

The jars were found during restoration below a servant’s quarter near the mansion. Protected in a collapsed storage pit the glass vessels were intact, shielded from sunlight, animals, and shifting earth. The airtight conditions were ideal for preservation, keeping the fruit—likely peaches and cherries—recognizable and astonishingly well-preserved over the centuries...

Researchers quickly transferred the jars to controlled environments. The contents are now under chemical and microbiological testing to find out their composition. Researchers hope to identify the type of fruit, the preservation agents used, and even trace elements of the soil and materials used to seal the jars. This should help reconstruct 18th-century culinary practices...

Here is the link...

Archaeologists at Mount Vernon discovered a window into the diet and food preserving methods of colonial America.

It doesn't seem to me that the photos go with the article.  They keep talking about jars of fruit, but the pictures are of what I would call bottles.  

The bottles look like liquor bottles to me.  Maybe I'm making to big a deal out of the terminology and distinction between "bottle" and "jar."  I don't know if there is a technical distinction or not.

Below are a couple of what I would call "mallet" style bottles that I found on the Treasure Coast.  The bottles below are also much more modern.  The brown one I think is 1954 and the green on I would guess is something similar.  It has a big G with a little S in it where I'd expect the maker's mark, but I can't find a glass maker that used that mark.

Fun fact: Mount Vernon was already a historic landmark by the time the Mason jar was invented in 1869. 

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Surf Forecast for the Fort Pierce Area from Surfguru.com.

Nothing new here. We will get another slightly negative low tide in the afternoon.

I noticed a detectorist working in the shallow water of the intercoastal.  As far as I recall it is the first time in twenty or thirty years I saw anyone doing that.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

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