Archaeology of Trash

In TV shows in which the forensic team rifles through trash looking for clues, the trash can is always brought into a lab and dumped on the clean room table.

This is not the correct way to search for clues. This may lead to some facts, but the information behind the facts will often be lost.

The Archaeology is destroyed–the layering of junk mail, indicating when + how often the mail is checked will be lost.

Location of cans matters and the process of unloading the cans in their proper context often provides extremely meaningful information.