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I must concur with Mark and Stephen's sentiments that excavating a landfill
is a pretty questionable activity. Associations for such deposits are
usually limited to an entire city, so the results can do little more than
make gross generalizations for a very large and diverse population. Where
is the value in that?
Rathje's study is really not at all comparable because he was actually able
to look at material by household and neighborhood. You can't do that with
an existing landfill.
Thad Van Bueren
Calif. Dept. of Transportation
The views expressed are not necessarily those of my employer, etc.
"Wittkofski, J. Mark" <[log in to unmask]>@asu.edu> on
08/03/2000 06:26:03 AM
Please respond to HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY <[log in to unmask]>
Sent by: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
cc:
Subject: Re: Landfill Site Reference Request
Not to be too much of a cynic but...
Has the search out West for significant historic archaeological resources
diminished to the extent that 60 to 70-year old garbage dumps are expected
to provide information that will contribute to our understanding of human
history and information that is important, not just more stuff? As a
taxpayer I would question the usefulness of this kind of expenditure. Has
the Utah SHPO concurred for the need to do your excavation? I suppose if I
saw your Research Design and had a better understanding of what important
research questions you hoped to answer by the study, I might be more
willing
to accept this work. However, at this point in time, I think all
practicing
archaeologists need to keep in mind that not everything needs to be dug up,
particularly if one is using public monies.
Mark Wittkofski
(The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily
reflect his employer.)
-----Original Message-----
From: Austin, Stephen P SWF [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, August 03, 2000 8:25 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Landfill Site Reference Request
I guess I'll be the bait goat here - why are you excavating this 30s-40s
refuse site? Was this a municipal landfill with hospital and industrial
waste in it?
Stephen P. Austin
-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2000 6:23 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Landfill Site Reference Request
We are undertaking a project involving excavation of a portion of an
extremely large (perhaps, at one time, several hundred meters by several
hundred meters in size) landfill site near Salt Lake City that dates ca.
1932-1942. The portions of the dump which were excavated reached depths of
13 - 15 feet of solid domestic trash (very little soil mixed in).
Do persons on the list know of other landfill or large dump sites which
have
been excavated and reported on? Are there references which could be useful
as comparisons with such a site? Rathjie's materials are known about.
Perhaps there are other helpful suggestions? Thanks for any help which may
be offered.
Mike Polk
Sagebrush Consultants, L.L.C.
Ogden, Utah
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