Yes, but

I was referring more to archival items (documents, photos, postcards,
letters, etc). However, a lot of material culture also goes into
the trash (landfills) where it will never be encountered by archaeologists
not to mention all the Schifferian transformations
it goes through getting into the trash (burning in some  cases) and once it
is in the ground.

Also keep in mind that much of material culture is ephemeral (paper, cloth,
etc.) but not viewed by most as documents and normally not headed for any
archive. It does not survive outside of exceptional situations underground.

In many cases it is possible to go from a very incomplete fragment to an
entire artifact via Ebay, antique shops or flee
markets. Most glass and ceramic experts in historical archaeology have been
doing such collecting for over
50 years.

It is much better to have a massive McDonald's collection (and thousands of
its counterparts) at the Smithsonian (not to
mention the Dave Orr "assemblage" - where?) surviving alongside the
archaeological record. We need both and such
collections (documents and artifacts) greatly enhance our ability to
understand and get information out of the archaeological record.
Ebay gets a + in regard to this issue although it also has a much smaller  - .

                                                                 RLS

At 10:43 AM 6/20/2005, you wrote:
>Robert L. Schuyler wrote:
>".... this intrusion of  the marker place is certainly counterbalanced
>by the fact that most of such items would
>have never ended up in the local  historical society but would have gone
>into the trash and been lost forever."
>
>No! Please keep in mind that most of what goes in the trash becomes the
>archaeological deposits of the future, although ephemeral items such as
>paper labels MAY be "lost forever."
>Meli Diamanti
>Archaeological & Historical Consultants, Inc.

Robert L. Schuyler
University of Pennsylvania Museum
3260 South Street
Philadelphia, PA l9l04-6324

Tel: (215) 898-6965
Fax: (215) 898-0657
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