"You can spend a lifetime going to flea markets and never acquire such an interesting collection," said Lyons, 62, a retired United Airlines pilot, whose Cheers-type bar and restaurant now has a twist of Night at the Museum.
What has been unearthed so far, he is convinced, is "only the tip of the iceberg."
Local legend holds that the tavern - dating possibly to colonial times and rebuilt after a fire in 1876 - was one of three stops in Yardley on the Underground Railroad, the escape route for fugitive slaves that saw its peak of activity in the mid-19th century. Lyons suspects the pit, accessible only through a small entryway, once served as a hiding place. Finding conclusive evidence of that, he said, would be the "holy grail" of the excavation project.
With occasional help from volunteers, Lyons and longtime friend Paul Beck, a research chemist and amateur archaeologist, already have dug about six feet into the hole, where the musty stench is so heavy that they have to wear masks.
Beck, who lives in nearby Lower Makefield and collects old bottles, maps the items on a grid and catalogs them. In the tavern attic, he and Lyons sort through their finds, clean them, and display the best.
When the pit began giving up its secrets, Beck said, "I went totally nuts."
Each descent has been a step back in time. The bounty of bottles? Stashed there during Prohibition, Lyons surmised, when the Continental once again had something to hide.
The men can only guess how much deeper they'll have to go before hitting bottom. Maybe 8 to 10 feet more.
"I don't know what the intention was when it was built," Lyons said. "It's peculiar, and I'm hoping someday I can find the Rosetta Stone that's going to break the code for me . . . something that will tell me what it was there for."
