One of the disadvantages of the modern mining health & safety imperative to keep your mine site clean is that we destroy evidence that might delight future archaeologists.  Proper mine closure is even worse: we remove all the delightful artifacts that provide evidence of current life-styles. 

Consider beer cans.  They were first introduced around 1935 and have been left lying around ever since.  A good archaeologist can tell lots about your prospective mine site if he/she finds an old beer can: the site is no valuable historic site for example, so you can proceed to excavate the big pit. 

[Read more →]