TIL about a weird trick for spotting old walls in a field

I was helping a friend survey a field near his farm in Kentucky last week, and we were using a basic metal detector. I got a faint signal in a spot that looked totally flat, so I started digging a small test pit. About a foot down, I hit a line of stones that turned out to be the foundation of a 19th century cabin that wasn't on any maps. The metal detector had actually pinged off an old nail that had washed down into the foundation fill over time. Has anyone else found a site using a signal that seemed totally random at first?

2 comments

2 Comments

nathan_barnes1d ago

Always dig those faint signals, they lead to the best finds.

the_daniel21h ago

You ever read that old article about the guy who found a rare coin because he checked a whisper signal everyone else walked past? Spot on, @nathan_barnes.