This is very interesting because we have just finished excavating an old
residential area consisting of numerous working-class households and have
numerous features (both trash burn-pits and privies) dating to about 1890
to the 1950's. One set of contemporaneous and adjacent features
(1930-40ish) from the same parcel have loads and loads of household stuff
in addition to what might be considered normal trash. I wasn't sure if it
was a house clean-out from a death or what...but hoarding did not occur to
me until now.

In addition to the usual faunal bone, bottles (lots of Duraglass,
Owens-Corning and other diagnostic stuff), ceramics (everyday and nicer
pieces) and whatnot, there are parts from numerous wood burning stoves,
wagon wheels and other parts, multiple tricycles, bicycles, flashlights,
electric Christmas lights, clothes fragments, numerous pairs of men's and
children's leather shoes, toys, ink fountain pens (2), jewelry, pocket
watches, lots of enamel ware, tools, bakelite dresser items, alarm clocks,
a small framed picture, picture-hanging wire- it just goes on and on. It
does appear that there are some heirloom ceramics from the late 1800's
(need to research the maker's marks), and some manganese colored glass
mixed in with the later stuff. However, it is clearly one depositional
episode, as though someone dug some holes, dumped the stuff in, and covered
it. We're just starting to catalog it now, so I don't have a complete
picture of the assemblage yet.

One would assume, if this were a place that trash was deposited over time,
that the older stuff would obviously be at the bottom. However, in these
features, old and newer are all jumbled together, which is why the hoarding
idea is so intriguing. And yes, there was a little bit of dirt in there
too...

Our city historian is compiling information on the family that lived at
that house per the city directory from that era, so maybe we can glean some
behavioral info from that.

Linda

Linda Hylkema
*Cultural Resources Manager, Santa Clara University*
W: *408-554-4513* | C: *408-219-5748* | F: *408-551-1709* | 500 El Camino
Real, Santa Clara, CA 95053




On Wed, Aug 13, 2014 at 8:38 PM, Susan Walter <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Margie,
>
> You are right about definitions.
> I have seen piles of rusted stuff that was being saved for its value as
> metal, and for replacement parts on machinery.
> People saved bottles and / or jars to reuse, buttons cut off for later
> use, and rags saved for the ragman.  Also, hoards in the sense of valuables
> like the pot of money buried for safekeeping.
>
> No, what I meant was the modern day usage of the term as in the show
> Hoarders.  A situation where stuff is saved and saved inside a residence
> until there is basically more stuff than open space - like my shirt tail
> relative in Montana who died decades ago whose house interior consisted of
> narrow passageways and stuff teetering everywhere.  She had paper stuff
> like junk mail, magazines, and lots of newspapers everywhere.
>
> I have been helping with the cleanout of a friend's place, and it is
> actually rather like excavating, but without dirt.  Its all stratified,
> older stuff on the bottom or in shelves, and then there are the "features"
> of clusters of books, food items, hobby collections, etc.
>
> I got to wondering if anyone had had something like this but WITH dirt.
>
> S. Walter
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Margie Akin" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2014 1:48 PM
> Subject: Re: Hoarding
>
>
> Hello everyone- a few thoughts on hoarding..
>
>     I think that it is important to be clear about the different
> definitions and meanings of the term hoarding. The traditional definition
> of a hoard is a relatively small, discreet, group of valuable material that
> was collected and hidden with the intention of being recovered in the
> future. Most hoards were coins or coins mixed with small valuables such as
> jewelry. Although the hoards that archaeologists find were never recovered
> by the people who placed them, the original intention was to do that when
> it was safe to do so.
>
>    The popular, pop-psychology meaning of the word -a form of collecting
> that has gone "over the top" as portrayed on TV in shows such as "Hoarders"
> is a different phenomenon.  The kind of hoard that this refers to is
> usually a deposit of material that has some special meaning to the
> individual, and that develops over time, is not located in a temporary
> hiding place, and has its origins in different human behavior.
> Margie Akin - Riverside
>
>  Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 12:19:21 -0700
>> From: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: Hoarding
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>
>> What about any digs at a junk yard? Does anyone know if there are any
>> reports/articles on that?
>>
>> Bill White
>>
>> > On Aug 13, 2014, at 9:22 AM, "John M. Foster, RPA" > <
>> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> >
>> > I've seen all kinds of features that might be considered evidence of >
>> hoarding.  You'd be well served if you define your terms.  We found > 'bone
>> yards' on farms and ranches that contain old equipment that the > owner may
>> or may not recycle into new tools or equipment.  Is that > hoarding?  I've
>> seen hoarding in modern contexts defined as a disease > but I'm not so sure
>> that in earlier contexts it would be so considered. > Possibly prudent and
>> good judgement.   It will be interesting to see > what you come up with.
>> >
>> > John
>> >
>> >
>> > John M. Foster, RPA
>> > Greenwood-Associates.com
>> > 310.454.3091 tel/fax
>> > 310.717.5048 cell
>> >
>> >
>> > ________________________________
>> > From: "Rodgers, Ree" <[log in to unmask]>
>> > To: [log in to unmask]
>> > Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2014 9:14 AM
>> > Subject: Re: Hoarding
>> >
>> >
>> > That would be interesting, I would think hoarding would be a fairly >
>> recent phenomena
>> >
>> > Cheers, Ree
>> > Archaeologist
>> > WAPA, Rocky Mountain Region
>> > 970-461-7214
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of >
>> Susan Walter
>> > Sent: Wednesday, August 13, 2014 10:07 AM
>> > To: [log in to unmask]
>> > Subject: Hoarding
>> >
>> > August 13, 2014
>> >
>> > Has anyone ever excavated a known hoarder's site?
>> > I mean old, one filled in with dirt?
>> > I've been cleaning out since a friend's death; its very archaeological.
>> >
>> > S. Walter
>>
>       =
>
>
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