Archaeology

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What can we learn about our own society from the garbage we throw away?

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Hypotheses

First, what hypotheses do you have about what the garbologists would find in the typical American garbage and in Landfills?

The Garbage Project developed several hypotheses and questions based on questionnaires and other general knowledge….

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Hypotheses and Specific Questions the Garbology Project Generated:

Landfills are filling up with fast food packaging and lots of plastic waste – as based on surveys of what many Americans think is in our waste.

Paper and food products biodegrade over time.

What is the relationship between what people say they do and eat, and what is actually found in their garbage?

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Methods and Data Collection

How would you test the hypothesis?

Systematically excavate, or dig

in landfill….

metamedia.stanford.edu

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Randomly collect household garbage….

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Methods and Data Collection

… sort contents layer by layer

and bag by bag …

http://metamedia.stanford.edu/projects/GarbologyOnline

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Methods and Data Collection

… and record observations about what

You find!!!

Rathje and Murphy

(2001:73)

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2) Plastic bottles, soda cans, and fast food

packaging less than 1%!!!

Items such as lettuce

and old fruit lasted over 15 years!

Project Observations:

1) Landfills contain almost 40% newspapers between 15 and 40 years old!!!

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Inferences - What do the observations mean?

Do the observations support the hypotheses?

NO!!!

Landfills are not filling up with plastics, but with

paper and construction products. Items that we would expect to decompose do not always.

Recycling of paper products, in addition to plastics,

is not a major activity in modern society in comparison to the total amount of garbage!

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Slide 18

Conclusions