Excavation Crew in April 2014 at the Alamogordo, New Mexico Landfill, Site of the 1983 Atari Video Game Burial
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In 1983, rumors circulated: Atari was bankrupt, and was dumping truckloads of games into a New Mexico landfill. Victim to the "Video Game Crash," the company buried 700,000 cartridges in the desert. The story became an obscure pop culture legend -- until "The Atari Tomb" was unearthed in 2014. These images document the world's first video game excavation.
In 1983, rumors circulated: Atari was bankrupt, and was dumping truckloads of games into a New Mexico landfill. Victim to the "Video Game Crash," the company buried 700,000 cartridges in the desert. The story became an obscure pop culture legend -- until "The Atari Tomb" was unearthed in 2014. These images document the world's first video game excavation.
Artifact
Digital print
Subject Date
26 April 2014
Creators
Collection Title
Location
Not on exhibit to the public.
Object ID
2015.13.11
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of the City of Alamogordo, New Mexico.
Material
Paper (Fiber product)
Technique
Inkjet printing
Color
Multicolored
Dimensions
Height: 4.813 in
Width: 8.5 in
Inscriptions
April 2014 Lewandowski Directing Crews
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