Fascinating.
Can you keep me apprised of your progress off list?
[log in to unmask]
----- Original Message -----
From: "Linda Hylkema" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2014 11:35 AM
Subject: Re: Hoarding
> 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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