I'm also wondering if somewhere in here you should mention Richard's desire (which we all agreed with) about subverting the filming process to the will of the archaeologists. We wanted as much time with the material as possible, which is why we negotiated with the City workers about the placement of piles and the speed of digging. Also, we were supposed to work through the night after the games were recovered, but the sandstorm and unsafe conditions prevented that. Besides, the city workers had already bagged everything up.

I'm wondering if you should mention some of the trickery done in the film. For example, building a berm at the end of the first day to obscure the piles of trash from the audience. Also that we only put together maybe 12 boxes of stuff for museums, but CGI was used to show the garage full of boxes of finds.

Don't forget the food truck selling authentic French crepes!

Maybe you mention this further down, but Zak told us that the archaeologists gave the happening a kind of gravity or authenticity rather than it just being a media stunt or treasure hunt.

replace "thought" with "known" because of the newspaper articles published during the dump (Alamogordo Daily News and NYT). The knowledge was lost because of future ignorance of media technologies (offline microfiche).

Dumping everything Atari-related into giant trash bags that were then chucked in an unmarked trailer for transport to a secure City location for the following day's analysis.

I asked Zak if he wanted me to follow him to the table in front of the crowd. He didn't answer me, so I just followed him for the unboxing.

by Richard Rothaus

Recall the newspaper we found during Day 2 that was dated to the day of the dump and featured the news of the Atari burial above the fold. This was directly atop the Atari games layer.

There was also a burn layer towards the top.

Don't forget the Christmas 1983 issue of Cheri magazine featuring Seka on the cover.

Wasn't it Crystal Pepsi?

Maybe mention that anyone NOT wearing steel-toed boots and Class 2 high-viz vests and head protection were not allowed inside the cordon (although this fell apart at the end of the dig).

I asked Cat at Lightbox on the phone for three solid weeks so we could uncover and document the entire assemblage, but was told two days or nothing.

City approval was given to Fuel Industries in June 2013, which triggered my email to the entertainment company about the management of the archaeology and excavation.

At one point in the process, it looked like Richard might actually be the one to drive the excavator, a job ultimately done by Son. I have all the pre-planning emails between me, Richard, and Lightbox if you don't yet have them.

goals, the planning

define this acronym: New Mexico Environmental Department

This story broke globally. We were front page in Qatar the day after (citation needed)

This story broke globally. We were front page in Qatar the day after (citation needed)