Well, the communis I own and the ones I've seen in the wild around here (they're the only native junipers in my country) all have pretty flaky brown/grey bark from a young age.
Since yours is so red on the trunk, and doesn't seem to have any bark, I believe J. virginia is still a possibility.
A thing that all communis seem to have is that they keep their needles for a looooong time (3-6 years). So long even, that the branches will have gone woody while the needles are still green. That could be a telltale sign that this probably isn't a communis.
I'm growing phoenicea, scopulorum, virginia and osteospermum from seed, and they all look alike. They all have needles as juvenile plants and when exposed to enough sunlight, they all have a blueish hue to them. It can take up to ten years for them to get scale foliage.
Have a look at the example below. Every white tray is an individual type of juniper, but you see there's quite a lot of variation in color and growth habit.
I think it's good to have a look at what's natively growing around your area, and that'll probably be the highest chance of being whatever you dug up.
