Sacred Litter
In a recent essay entitled "Finding Sacrifice Atop an Island in the Sky," which was included in The Intersection of Sacredness and Archaeology (Springer, 2024), Breck Parkman defined three categories of objects that have been cast off from atop Mount Diablo in recent years. The categories are (1) Litter (Discarded items perceived to have no value), (2) Loss (Items that may still have value but are lost), and (3) Sacrifice (Items of perceived value that were intentionally discarded at a place considered sacred). In this presentation, Parkman discusses "sacrificed" items as being Sacred Litter. In addition to the discarded items found atop Mount Diablo, he examines a range of impromptu offerings found at places like the Mayan's Sacred Cenote at Chichen Itza, celebrity grave sites including those of Marilyn Monroe and John Belushi, roadside memorials where tragedies have occurred, and monuments such as the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. Also examined are offerings made at traveler shrines (Ovos) in North Asia, coin trees in the U.K., Torii Gates in Japan, and wishing wells and fountains such as the Trevi Fountain in Rome. By means of Contemporary Archaeology, we can delineate the complexity of litter and identify meaning where there appears to be none.
- Released
- 2025
Details
Release year: 2025
Storyline
In a recent essay entitled "Finding Sacrifice Atop an Island in the Sky," which was included in The Intersection of Sacredness and Archaeology (Springer, 2024), Breck Parkman defined three categories of objects that have been cast off from atop Mount Diablo in recent years. The categories are (1) Litter (Discarded items perceived to have no value), (2) Loss (Items that may still have value but are lost), and (3) Sacrifice (Items of perceived value that were intentionally discarded at a place considered sacred). In this presentation, Parkman discusses "sacrificed" items as being Sacred Litter. In addition to the discarded items found atop Mount Diablo, he examines a range of impromptu offerings found at places like the Mayan's Sacred Cenote at Chichen Itza, celebrity grave sites including those of Marilyn Monroe and John Belushi, roadside memorials where tragedies have occurred, and monuments such as the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. Also examined are offerings made at traveler shrines (Ovos) in North Asia, coin trees in the U.K., Torii Gates in Japan, and wishing wells and fountains such as the Trevi Fountain in Rome. By means of Contemporary Archaeology, we can delineate the complexity of litter and identify meaning where there appears to be none.