Not very long ago, most people disposed of their trash in their own backyards. As people walked on this trash, they broke it down into smaller bits that they eventually ground into the dirt. Discarded materials tended to collect in low spots on the landscape. Artifacts deposited in protective holes such as wells, privies, or ravines tend to be much larger and can often be assembled into nearly complete objects. This is because the fragments were never walked on or kicked around.
Artifacts also make their way into the ground through loss.
Buttons and buckles separate from clothing, coins are dropped, and keys fall out of pockets. Objects may be hidden from sight so well that they are eventually forgotten. Disaster does not contribute to the archaeological record as often as people think. Fortunately, few such dramatic episodes have occurred in North America. Here, a site-creating disaster might be an intense house fire that caused the homeowner to abandon everything in place.