Hi everyone,
I'm planning on conducting my dissertation project at a Japanese American
sawmill town community in Western Washington, and I had a quick
safety-related question. There are a few depressions we identified through
surface survey that may be privies, and I'd like to excavate one or two of
them.
However, I had two general concerns:
1. This community (and the sawmill company town it was a part of) were
subject to a health scare, and the City of Seattle Board of Health got
involved. The Board recommended that all dry closets be disinfected once
per week with a "saturated solution of sulphate of copper", or copper
sulphate. Suffice it to say, copper sulphate is unpleasant stuff, and I
worry about whether or not any of that solution (or perhaps just an excess
of copper?) is in the privies and, if so, how to deal with the health
hazard. If it is, I'm at a loss for how to deal with it.
Does anyone have any advice/suggestions? Or for that matter, know if copper
sulphate sticks around for very long? I assume that even if it degrades
somehow, the copper is still around. Worst-case scenario, I just avoid
digging in the privies, but if I can manage it, that information would be
very helpful.
2. Does anyone have any good suggestions on literature for safety issues
around privies in general? I've searched, but can't find any (though I did
find one work on safety in archaeology that's been helpful).
Thanks for any help you can give!
--David
=====================================================
David Carlson, M.A.
Co-Principal Investigator, *Issei* at Barneston Project
Project Website: *http://sites.uw.edu/davidrcn
<http://sites.uw.edu/davidrcn>*
Email: davidrcn[at]uw.edu
PhD. Candidate, Archaeology Program
Department of Anthropology
University of Washington
Personal Website: http://davidrcarlson.net
<http://uw.edu>
############################
To unsubscribe from the HISTARCH list:
write to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
or click the following link:
https://community.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-LSOFTDONATIONS.exe?SUBED1=HISTARCH&A=1
|
