Contamination of Archaeological Sites by Waste from Recreational Boating and Fishing

Abstract

A survey found archaeological sites on the bottom of the Hume Reservoir to be contaminated by modern refuse, particularly glass bottles. The debris is deposited by recreational fishermen while the reservoir is filled. The contamination creates two problems: a threat to the integrity of the archaeological record; and a threat derived from well-meaning, but uncontrolled community clean-up operations removing both modern debris and historic heritage items from a site.