The Refuse Disposal Pit features were discovered in the summer of 2000 by a survey conducted by ASU archaeology students (see below) near Walton Way, which borders the north edge of the campus.  At that location between approximately 1890 and the end of the First World War (1918), the Arsenal residents deposited a great deal of refuse in one or more pits.  

The items found in the pit features include: china, bottles and other glass items, food remains (bone, eggshell, oyster shells), household items, toys, personal items, building materials, coal  (used for cooking, heating, and industrial processes) and cinders, as well as items such as metal waste which probably came from the Arsenal's industrial shops.

The picture below (left) shows our team laying out excavation units.  On the (right) the excavation trench approaches the level of the pit's top surface.

In the photo (below), a section of the pit is visible, showing many "lenses" of deposit.  The top of the deposit is clearly visible above the heads of the excavators.

(Left below)   Workers screen the fill looking for small items.  (Right)  Over 460 whole or nearly whole bottles were found.

The pit features were of great interest due to the volume of material and due to the fact that they provide a time capsule which gives a picture of the kinds of household goods and other items in use at the Arsenal at the turn of the last century. 

A great many of the bottles recovered (below) were related to the wide spread use of patent medicines during that period of time or to the consumption of alcoholic beverages.  The single most common kind of bottle was embossed with the words, "Augusta Brewing Company".