The Bud Light can design was introduced in 2004 and lasted until 2008. Being one of the most disposable items, I'd guess the pile was made in those years.
this post was submitted on 25 Mar 2026
160 points (97.6% liked)
Ask Lemmy
38847 readers
835 users here now
A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions
Rules: (interactive)
1) Be nice and; have fun
Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, toxicity and dog-whistling are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them
2) All posts must end with a '?'
This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?
3) No spam
Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.
4) NSFW is okay, within reason
Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com.
NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].
5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions.
If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.
6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online
Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.
Partnered Communities:
Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Beer can might also have a best before date stamped on the bottom
That tracks with my cassette player estimation: 2002. Presumably they didn't trash it while new, but it doesn't exactly scream quality, so it wouldn't surprise me if it died shortly after the warranty expired.
So if I were to guess: shortly after that bud light can was introduced, so 2005ish.
Questionable parenting with questionable taste in "beer"
I think I found the cassette player, although it dates it to the 80s... Although it could of been an old object dumped alongside more contemporary ones, as the cassette doesn't appear to be as aged as other objects...
https://www.ebay.com/itm/405015397001
Logo on the Wilson football dates from 1994-present, so oldest possible age of pile is ~1994, although I think it is younger.
Design on the Bud Light can is circa 2004, but I feel like someone could of dropped that separate from the pile.
This game is really fun, we should start a subreddit.
Someone dumping some shit might well have had some of the objects much longer than some of the others. And if anything, a person is less likely to be dumping new objects, except for disposable things like beer cans.
load more comments
(3 replies)
I don't know the exact model of the cassette player, but the silver plastic and the rounded bits of the design to me are very late 90's to early 2000's.
My guess is this stuff has only been out there a few years from the general condition.
load more comments
(1 replies)
If you really like this, it’s not that far off from how archeologists date stuff. Though they collect a lot more datapoints, have more context, and use more references.
great point, I used to find trash piles like this in the woods around where I lived, and even as a child I always wondered about who put them there, what their life was like, and what people would think about the piles I left behind, how I could leave clearer messages for them so they were not confused.
You may like archeology. My wife is an archeologist and she says that a lot of it is using science and history to make sense of people’s trash.
The thing to remember is our post-industrial conceptualization of trash is a little different than the past. For example, broken projectile points and their flakes are essentially just really old trash that was dropped when it broke or wasn’t useful anymore.
That ball is way too inflated, it has not been sitting in the sun for over a decade.
The seams are ripped and decaying and there’s moss or lichen growing on it. I wouldn’t doubt for a moment that that ball has been in the woods for 15 or 20 years. It’s not just going to flatten like a balloon when it’s not at full pressure anymore.
I think I found the cassette player
Nah. The one in your link has round speaker grilles, while the one in OP's pic have different shaped speaker grilles. Also OP's one is missing the carry handle.
Does seem to be a similar model and likely related to it, but not quite the same.
good point, I was just getting off work and killing time before heading home, so definitely blew passed some details on the cassette deck!
Looks like the speakers are a slightly different shape. Maybe it's an updated version?
R/chaeology
Early 2000’s 12 y/o with questionable parents
Yeah, I was looking at that cassette player and thought 2002 or thereabouts
everyone keeps saying 80s or 90s, yet completely miss the spool of blue Ethernet cable under it all.
everyone is pretty spot on with the boombox and toy.
based on that plus the Ethernet, plus the age on the items. I would say it's been there since between 2001-2010.
I don't think its ethernet cable. I think its string trimmer line. Look at the size of the football grips, and consider that they are closer in frame than whatever type of cable that is.
Also, I'm pretty sure that is some species of Galium growing around there, probably maybe Galium arvense? Vining habit, whorled leaves, disturbed spaces, etc.. Its stem is pretty narrow. Much narrower than ethernet cable.
https://fsus.ncbg.unc.edu/main.php?pg=show-taxon-detail.php&taxonid=4767
I think you're right. I can kind of see a spiral on the blue cordage but it's too pixelated to be for sure.
I installed pallets of internet cabling in the mid 90s
I have no doubt, but it wasn't something that was so common that you'd leave a whole spool of it out in a pile of junk.
getting your hands on the stuff took effort and it wasn't cheap back then either unless you were running a business in IT infra.
While it looks like ethernet I don't see a plug on it, so it could be any ethernet looking cable (coaxial, rj11, etc). Could be wrong though
2000-2010 seems a pretty good guess though, who would throw brand new stuff away
I think the toy fishing reel is from this 1995-ish model:
The older 80's vintage was black:
And the 2000's model was a very different molding:
More on the toy fishing rod:
https://thisoldtoy.com/l_fp_set/toy-pages/8000-plus/72000/72414-fish-n-reel.html
Those look like items from around 1993. The items don't look like they have been exposed to the elements for 33 years, though. Maybe 5 to 10 years of exposure.
Bottom center looks like a Fisher Price Fish-N-Reel toy circa 1995.
The Boombox appears to be a Lennox Sound CT-731, That listing features a picture of the bottom of its box bearing a copyright date of 2000.
That's been only out in the weather a year or two but I recognize the patina of being stored in a hot garden shed for decades. Someone cleaned out the back of their shed and dumped it.
Two would be pushing it. The leaves would have matted more and built up in greater amounts. Put out last spring is my estimate: that's one year of detritus.
Assuming this isn't just two feet off the side of a trailhead or something.
load more comments
(2 replies)
I'd say late 80s to early 90s trash, that football looks like one I bought at a garage sale in the 90s but was at least 10 years old when I bought it. Plastics often have production dates, a small circle of numbers from 1 to 12 with an arrow points at the month of production with the numbers on either side of the arrow being the year.
That radio looks late 90s to me, possibly even early 2000s. Definitely not 80s.
Yeah, based off the radio and memories I'd put it late 90s early 00s. All my radios from the 80s-mid-90s had much more squared corners.
The boombox is the only concrete clue I can identify. It’s an am/fm cassette, but doesn’t seem to have a cd player, so I’m assuming it went out of style in the early aughts. Best guess, this trash is about 20 years old.
The character on the body board graphic might give a clue. I don't recognize it, but the drawing style of the eye looks like early nineties Disney.
I think its loony toons? tweety bird?
Just came to say definitely Tweety Bird
Until today I had almost completely forgot the "tweetybird/ Taz" era of style in the mid 90's
I wonder how many regrettable Taz tattoos are still out in the wild
Bonus regret points if that Taz tattoo looks like this:
Probably so many. I forgot about Taz 😂
load more comments
(1 replies)
How old do you have to be to be a crackhead? 🤔
Depends on the parents
Definitely the 90s. Though maybe only out there for like 5 or 6 years?
4-6 years, wild guess using some of the junk in my backyard as a reference.
What kind of people just dumps garbage like that - what are they thinking? why? whar has happened in their life?
I did solid waste dump responses when I worked for a health department.
When people who can't pay to dump have trash, they dump it in the woods, ravines, forestry roads, etc.
Usually the drive to dump trash is when someone dies and someone else is having to clear out their effects, be it family, a landlord, or some worker. Or someone is evicted from their home, vehicle, or encampment.
Otherwise most people hoard it until they die or are evicted.
load more comments
(1 replies)
Looks like a toddler or a young child might have some fun with it, but I wouldn't recommend letting a child play with trash...
Parents should clean up that trash.
view more: next ›