Filth, garbage, and rubbish: refuse disposal, sanitary reform, and nineteenth-century yard deposits in Washington, D. C.

Abstract

To the archaeologist, the refuse deposits found on domestic sites are a source of information about diet, health, and consumer behavior. Yet to 19th-century health reformers, these deposits were regarded as sources of disease causing offensive odors, or “noxious effluvia.” Thus, city officials in Washington first instituted night soil collection (privy contents), then garbage collection (organic refuse), and finally by century’s end, rubbish collection (inorganic refuse). Concurrently, city officials passed ever stricter nuisance laws designed to enforce public health policy. How these reforms were enforced, and how the public reacted to them, may say much about the development of attitudes towards cleanliness. Excavations from domestic sites in Washington, D. C. show that refuse disposal practices differed substantially from house to house. The adoption of sanitary practices was far from even, and may have been associated with many factors, including cultural background, occupation, and home ownership, among others.