That old "Native American burial mound" near my town is actually a 1920s garbage dump

I looked into it after the local historical society posted about it, turns out some farmer decades back was just piling up broken bottles and old horse shoes. There's actually a 1928 newspaper clipping from the county archives that mentions it as 'Smith's dumping ground.' Has anyone else run into fake archaeological sites like that in their area?

2 comments

2 Comments

uma_baker9924d ago

Idk, maybe it's just me but I actually find that newspaper clipping way more interesting than any made up legend. Knowing exactly when and why someone dumped their trash there connects you to a real person's life in a way a vague story about ancient graves never could. It's not about romanticizing, it's about the truth being kind of cool in its own quiet way.

abby_robinson5824d ago

and that's honestly how a lot of these "mysterious" local landmarks end up being. people just love to romanticize old trash piles or weird rock formations when most of the time it's just some farmer from the 1800s being lazy. i've noticed this pattern in my own neighborhood where every old foundation or stone wall gets called "historic" but it's usually just leftovers from someone's house they tore down in the 50s. it's like we all have this need to make everything feel ancient and meaningful when sometimes a pile of bottles is just a pile of bottles. the historical society probably got a kick out of clearing that up though, and honestly that clipping is way more interesting than some made up legend.