"Backyard Archeology" or "I have a patio?!"

[RoJoHen]

The landscaping around my house sucks. I knew that going into it, and I have been slowly remedying the situation by cutting down overgrown trees, removing weeds, murdering bushes and flowers that nobody has tended to in probably a decade, etc.

Today I was digging up a section in my backyard when my shovel hit something solid about 10 inches below the dirt. I kept hitting solid things in a large square area and discovered a large, brick patio buried beneath the lawn.

I don't know who decided to plant grass over the patio...or why the didn't remove the patio before they decided to plant grass on it, but I am going to fix it up and keep it.

Ever discover any weird things leftover from previous residents where you live?

 

[Finn]

As a child, I've dug up old toys, and rusted nails (in areas far from where Dad did home projects) in the backyard.

 

[DimesDan]

Cool story.

Can't say I've ever done anything like that as although I like the great outdoors, I've not really got green fingers.

 

[ManOnTheWave]

At my place, I dug up a few kitchy signs; the kind that were supposed to look old and lived in even before someone buried them. One is a wooden cat, and the other was, I think, a produce sign that stood in the garden.

While lounging around my brothers back yard, I found some old Star Wars toys from the mid 90s half buried from their battles.

Nothing as involved as a whole porch, though.

As a kid, I found many an arrow head out and about. Just about everywhere.

 

[RoJoHen]

While lounging around my brothers back yard, I found some old Star Wars toys from the mid 90s half buried from their battles.

Aw, that reminds me, there is a Geordi LaForge buried somewhere in my old neighbor's foundation.

 

[auntiehill]

When I was a kid, we lived across the bay from San Francisco. While digging up the back yard and landscaping (our house was on a steep hill), my mom unearthed some old medicine bottles--some had "liniment" embossed in the glass. Pretty cool little find.

 

[Captain Ice]

When I was a kid, Dad or one of my uncles (not sure which) mowed the grass at a house we were moving into and found a pedal car. I was about 3 at the time.

 

[Miss Chicken]

When I was clearing away weeds soon after moving into my house I found an ugly little garden gnome. I detest garden gnomes, horrid, horrid things they are.

I put him in my shed as I plan to have a Gnomicide Party one day and he will be the first to be under the sledgehammer.

 

[Shaytan]

I have a lot of stories like that, personnaly at my parent's house and from my father who was a construction worker.
I remember old glasses, various pieces of plates, an old picture behind a mirror, coins (sadly no Louis d'or ).

My father told me some stories from the time he was working on the construction of buildings in Paris in the 60's. He found rusty guns, bottles of wine (of course ), parts of gothic constructions and various fossils from older residents

I have a friend who's an architect who found skeletons (certainly from WWII era) on a site.

 

[Qutluch]

I found arrowheads in a sand dune area by my house in Michigan when I was a kid, oh and an old wagon wheel!

 

[Saga]

found a few arrowheads, old marbles and some old pop bottles.

 

[Spot's Meow]

You guys are so lucky. I always dreamed about finding arrowheads or other historic artifacts as a child. I would sit out in the backyard and perform "excavations" for hours on end. I never found anything.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

Only thing I've found are old marbles and cobblestones.

 

[ed629]

Found out a few months ago that my home is built on an old indian campground, that would explain the pointy rocks I've found, and the broken clay 'flower' pots too....