Rick Beggs
Rick Beggs
coffin dug hole match point prior produced quite shape shoulder takes tried
Prior to 1850, caskets were like Dracula's; they were widest at the shoulder and narrowed down. When they dug a grave, they dug down to a point and then they dug the hole to match the shape of the coffin. This produced a shoulder of undisturbed soil, the coffin ledge, that the archeologist was probing. I tried it, and it takes quite some skill.