Analysis and Interpretation of the Bandelier Landfill Site: Determining the Information Potential of a Multicomponent Historic Trash Site

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Historical Archaeologies of the American Southwest, 1800 to Today" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Bandelier National Monument landfill site represents a historic period artifact scatter containing many diagnostic artifacts. In the 1930s, workmen belonging to the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camped at this site while tuff stone was quarried from mesa top outcrops for use in the construction Frijoles Canyon Historic District. Evidence of this includes spoils piles of tuff refuse as well as charcoal from campfires, but no diagnostic artifacts from this era have been documented at the site. Surface artifacts seem largely to belong to the 1940s-1960s time frame, during which Mrs. Evelyn Frey operated the Frijoles Canyon Lodge, feeding and housing overnight visitors to Bandelier National Monument. Refuse from the lodge includes dishware that she designed and special ordered herself as well as glass receptacles for foods she cooked and served. Although the parcel of land within which the landfill is located belonged to the Atomic Energy Commission between 1942 and 1961, no artifacts which are evidence of the Department of Energy activity at this location have been observed. The present study aims to determine the information potential of this site and to contribute to what is known about the park and its visitors during the historic period.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Historical Archaeologies of the American Southwest, 1800 to Today   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24008