Past Landscapes of Bias: Refuse at Abandoned Cold War Soviet Nuclear Bases in Poland

This article concerns the interpretation of refuse dumps discovered at three abandoned Soviet tactical nuclear bases in Poland and how their analysis prompted a reassessment of archaeological remote sensing results. The study employed a range of methods to document the remnants of these secret sites, including declassified spy satellite images, aerial photographs, airborne and terrestrial laser scanning, UAV prospection, and field surveys, supplemented by CIA reports and Warsaw Pact military documents. These data bridge significant gaps in archival records, offering valuable insights into the history of these sites. However, the discovery of Cold War-era refuse dumps near the bases containing materials that do not conform to other evidence present an interpretative challenge. It exposed ‘survivorship bias’ in the dataset, prompting a re-evaluation of earlier conclusions.