I suppose I shouldn't limit the collecting to a youth. I guess they
might be tempting to pick up...as if some old treasure.

But...why would they end up in the dump tho...and not under the
porch...or decorating around the yard, garden...etc.  I guess since I'm
not compulsively neat...I don't easily see why such things as spikes or
cartridge casings, would be gathered up and discarded in to a
dump...instead of just left in the grass...or wherever.  Not that I
advocate litering...but, have just seen a Lot of such things (and many
others)...left around. 

>-----Original Message-----
>From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On 
>Behalf Of Joe Dent
>Sent: Monday, August 06, 2007 2:07 PM
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: the Kid Factor influence on artifacts (etc)
>
>on 8/6/07 9:54 AM, Carol Serr at [log in to unmask] wrote:
>
>> That's a possibility...since there IS a rail line near by 
>the property.
>> I was wondering why there are so many (8) railroad spikes in a 
>> domestic household dump....and speculated they were "goodies" one of 
>> the kids collected (but then his mom made him throw them out?; or he 
>> grew up and did away with his boyhood collections?).
>> 
>>> 
>In regard to railroad spikes, people (kids and no longer 
>so....) just seem to want to pick them up and bring them home. 
> I have 15 to 20 in a pile under my front porch at this 
>moment.  All have been picked up by visitors walking the 
>nearby railroad tracks.  They all return with a look as if 
>they have found a unique artifact -- one that I probably 
>desperately need.  And out of respect under the porch they 
>go....  Some are occasionally employed to weigh something 
>down, and I remember flinging one or two at marauding 
>groundhogs in the garden.  Anyway, it doesn't take a kid.  I 
>have also seen rail fans with very large collections of 
>spikes, often labeled as to railroad of origin.  They make a 
>nice portable souvenir, and I think we often fail to 
>appreciate the place of railroads in the hearts of many in 
>older generations.
>
>Joe Dent
>America Unv.
>