A little dilemma - I planted this hydrangea right after I tore down my garage. Found 1" of soil, 4" of construction sand, and then ALL primordial sand from when our neighborhood was dunes west of the receding lake Michigan. No way to plant in that. I dug a huge pit and filled it with rich soil for the hydrangea. My dilemma - about 3 feet down I suddenly found charcoal! Wow, a primordial forest fire remnant! But then, "there wasn't any forest here until 400 years after the dunes". I realized, this must be a campsite fire or even a hearth fire from a settlement. But, it wasn't deep enough for a long-established hearth. Then I realized a lot of the charcoal I was bringing up seemed to be from large bone fragments. I saved a few of them but always had it in mind - are these deer bones or human? Is this important or just a blip. Do I want someone tearing apart my garden? I've been staring at that site lately. Any suggestions? Anybody know enough about Woodland Period Indians to hazard a guess?
Its possible that what you did find a campsite or fire pit from some previous settler in that area! Its also possible that you found the remnants of the previous land owner's BBQ, and nothing more historically significant than which brand of Kingsford was more popular at the time.
What you should do is travel to you local historical society, or preferably museum, and inquire there as to who lived in that area before. If you bring your samples, an archeologist could even hazard a guess as to their age and composition, which is hard for us to do through grainy internet photographs. If what you found is the remnants of a forest fire, then chances are an archeologist familiar with that region would also be familiar with finding charcoal. If its the remains of some colonial era or precolonial era site, then you can investigate whether the archeologists are interested in digging up your garden. But be assured that nobody will go ripping up your hydrangeas unless you let them.
