Rob,

I know its a day late and a dollar short, but the better question 
might be:  "Why did you bring it out of the field in the first 
place?"   If you had left it on site, there would be no disposal 
problem ...  Count it, weigh it, pitch it.  And now that its back in 
the lab, "What is the purpose of curating this material?"  Frankly, 
now that its back in the lab, "count it, weigh it, and pitch it" 
would still be my advice.

Which raises a bigger question (at least in my mind) ...  Has there 
been any recent discussion on HISTARCH or elsewhere relative to the 
curation/non-curation of historic archaeological materials?  I guess 
I am most concerned about the high-volume, but (potentially) less 
significant artifacts (e.g., nails, bricks, unidentifiable ferrous 
lumps, window glass, twentieth century bottle glass, etc.).

Anybody like to talk about these as curation policies or issues, or 
point me towards such a discussion?

-- 

Mark C. Branstner
Historic Archaeologist

Illinois Transportation
Archaeological Research Program
209 Nuclear Physics Lab, MC-571
23 East Stadium Drive
Champaign, IL 61820

Phone: 217.244.0892
Fax: 217.244.7458
Cell: 517.927.4556
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"There is also an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth,
without either virtue or talents ... The artificial aristocracy is a
mischievous ingredient in government, and provisions should be made to
prevent its ascendancy."

- Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)