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discovery of forgotten late 19th century landfill reveals rubbish from chicago's past frozen in time

a few hundred bottles, pottery fragments, and so on, were discovered during excavation in a chicago residential neighborhood. the machine operator was gracious enough to grant me highly coveted time to extract as much as i possibly could before loads were sent to the landfill.

note the children's toy doll arm, comprised of glazed porcelain.

based on preliminary research, this forgotten "landfill"​ was likely a dumping ground and/or burn pit for neighborhood "night scavengers,"​ who were licensed (issued by the city of chicago) individuals making their living cleaning or "dipping"​ privy pits across the city during the evening hours. the majority of the bottles and debris documented thus far, dates to 1890-1900.

sidenote: the following ordinances, retrieved from the revised municipal code of chicago of 1905 (around the time the contents were disposed of) are posted below. 

the lot containing the buried trash was likely undeveloped since now evidence of a foundation was found during excavation. the visually distinctive layer comprised solely of late 19th/early 20th century compacted trash, was found approximately four feet below the topsoil. judging from the excavated artifacts found at the topmost layer of the trash pit, its likely that the area was filled in and/or covered over between 1900-1905. research in progress, so check back for updates or future posts pertaining to this excavation. digging will resume in the coming days.

the images below were taken of the bottles and fragments unearthed earlier in the afternoon (due to time constraints, i simply washed away the mud coating the exterior surfaces). the  collection represents a definite cross-section of "everyday" products used between 1890-1905 across chicago households.

 

 



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