6 The Ecological Life of Industrial Waste

The post-depositional afterlife of an archaeological site is often viewed as the least important aspect of its history and outside of traditional archaeological interest. In the case of industrial sites, this elision ignores one of the most important aspects of industrial history, namely the long-term effects of toxic waste. In an era where industrial pollution and anthropogenic climate change are rapidly changing the future of life on this planet, the stakes of understanding the effects of industrial waste are vital. This article outlines a reflexive, ecologically focused archaeology that interrogates the afterlives of industrial waste, not as a method to get back to the history of production, but as a means for taking seriously these afterlives as a defining characteristic of life in the Anthropocene.  Using the concept of the ecological lives of industrial waste to explore the (post)industrial history of Mill Creek Ravine—a historically important industrial area in Edmonton, Alberta— this article argues that the decomposition of industrial waste serves as both a medium for long-term harms, as well as the locus for emergent relations and critical investigation.