For all those who collect pull tabs 
http://westerndigs.org/ring-tab-beer-cans-are-now-officially-historic-artifacts/
http://westerndigs.org/ring-tab-beer-cans-are-now-officially-historic-artifacts/
At 50, Ring-Tab Beer Cans Are Now Officially Historic Artifacts
- Thread starter Ramjet
- Start date
Help Support Prospecting Australia:
That gave me a chuckle!
Seriously, though, it makes you think about how the line between junk and treasure is pretty thin. In fact ancient garbage dumps are some of the most plum spots to go searching!
I did find that the article made a bit of a stretch, though. While they were invented 50 years ago, virtually every tab we find is more recent than that. I'd date the majority of the ones I've found as 70s and 80s, so 30-40 years old. The criterion you'd use to classify it as an archaeological artefact is the manufacturing date, or perhaps approximately the date it went in the ground. Using another example, bottles were invented aeons ago. That doesn't make a bottle I find buried that someone tossed 15 years ago a historic artefact. Does that make sense?
Seriously, though, it makes you think about how the line between junk and treasure is pretty thin. In fact ancient garbage dumps are some of the most plum spots to go searching!
I did find that the article made a bit of a stretch, though. While they were invented 50 years ago, virtually every tab we find is more recent than that. I'd date the majority of the ones I've found as 70s and 80s, so 30-40 years old. The criterion you'd use to classify it as an archaeological artefact is the manufacturing date, or perhaps approximately the date it went in the ground. Using another example, bottles were invented aeons ago. That doesn't make a bottle I find buried that someone tossed 15 years ago a historic artefact. Does that make sense?
LOL. You put way to much serious thought into that mfdes.
You are right about rubbish pits though. On Time Team they get super excited when they find a pit full of what was at one time trash but is now important archeological material.
You are right about rubbish pits though. On Time Team they get super excited when they find a pit full of what was at one time trash but is now important archeological material.
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2014
- Messages
- 1,030
- Reaction score
- 819
Does that mean theyre worth something or still junk
Woohoo I'm rich,
Oh damn I binned them all.......................... I know where there is a huge hoard of them still buried, think I'll leave them to mature another 30 years.
Oh damn I binned them all.......................... I know where there is a huge hoard of them still buried, think I'll leave them to mature another 30 years.
Similar threads
