Greenfields

Aurora, Ontario. Greenfields Approximately 44° 0'31.80"N 79°26'12.72"W, facing North, circa December 13, 2005

“Greenfields”—literally green, undeveloped farm fields—are the preferred substrate for developers because greenfield development is cheaper and simpler than the development of already built environments that need retrofitting and demolition. When immersing oneself in a project examining human impact on the land, snow brings both a welcome relief to the seemingly ceaseless destruction and an added layer of mystery to every dirt pile in a region proven to be full of previously undisturbed Aboriginal burial sites. Considering that a pile roughly this size could conceal the remains of a pre-Columbian community of 400, it presents an interesting thought experiment to estimate the amount of earth and the resources that would required, to bury the material remains of the human occupation that is about to occur on this site, and the size of the pile that would result.