Why is archeology known as the science of trash?

Due to the fact that archaeologists frequently analyze objects that would be regarded as "rubbish" or destroyed by modern standards, the term "the science of rubbish" is occasionally used colloquially to characterize archaeology. These materials are known as artifacts, characteristics, or deposits from previous human activity in the field of archaeology. By examining these relics, archaeologists are able to piece together and comprehend the lifestyles, customs, and surroundings of past communities.






The term "science of rubbish" is occasionally used to mock archaeology for the following reasons:

Material Culture Study:

When studying ancient societies, archaeologists frequently concentrate on the artifacts and trash that were abandoned or left behind. Broken ceramics, instruments, bones, and other relics that can seem like trash can be examples of this.

Trash Deposit Excavation:

 Layers of accumulated trash and abandoned objects are often found at archaeological sites. These deposits are carefully removed and examined. These strata, referred to as "stratigraphy," hold important knowledge regarding the site's evolution over time.

Insights into Daily Life:

 Researching objects that appear ordinary or abandoned can reveal details about the customs, daily routines, and behavioral patterns of ancient people. Even items that are now deemed "junk" might provide important historical context.

Even while the word "rubbish" is sometimes used in a playful or colloquial way, it's crucial to understand that the material that archaeologists analyze is far from being trash. We can put together the intricate history of humanity and the development of culture with the aid of these relics and artifacts, which serve as windows into the past.

 

What motivated you to research garbage history?

Working at El Zotz, a Maya city in northern Guatemala during my graduate studies, piqued my interest in the history of garbage. Our team's archaeologists discovered unusually large and thick artifact deposits in the palace located in the city center over the course of two field seasons.

Basically, some of the components were rare or expensive, thus even though the items appeared to be ancient rubbish due to their scattering, breaking, and burning appearance, they weren't.

This got me wondering about whether people in the past even had a concept of "waste" similar to what we have now, and how precisely I and other archaeologists were categorizing ancient items as trash or not-trash.

 

What aspects of "trash" have defined archaeology, and how have archaeologists defined our perception of waste?

There are many who refer to archaeology as "the science of rubbish." Though humorous in nature, this also illustrates the presumption that archaeologists typically deal with objects that people have abandoned because they are undesired or unnecessary. That might be the case in certain situations, but sometimes individuals leave costly items or items with a specific function behind (like an offering or a burial).

Although archaeologists make the final determination about what constitutes trash and what does not, we are influenced by the practices of the societies from which we hail.

For instance, during the mid-20th century, when the United States was enjoying the fruits of postwar production and consumerism, archaeologists had a tendency to see ancient trash as proof of technological advancement, much like the majority of people did with modern trash. But as environmentalism gained traction, people—including archaeologists—became increasingly aware of the trash they were producing, and we began to see ancient waste and disposal practices as mirror images of larger social structures.

Additionally, I believe that archaeology has contributed—even unknowingly—to the perception that trash is an inevitable, even natural aspect of life. Believing that our ancestors have been producing waste for countless thousands of years provides us with a convenient justification for the amount of trash we produce today.

 

 

Q: You mention that trash can have certain reflective properties. What can we learn about ourselves from our trash?

It would probably make you uneasy to picture someone you know going through the stuff in your trash can right now. Consider everything someone could find out about you, including your recent eating habits, the newspapers and magazines you've read, the products you use for health and beauty, and possibly even some financial information. I frequently use Gregg Segal's amazing series of images, "7 Days of Garbage," to demonstrate my teachings about trash. On occasion, I ask my students to describe the missing people solely from their trash after removing the subjects from the portraits. The products and packaging disclose information about family structure, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, gender roles, interests and hobbies, and other details that are surprising to the students.

 

What are some widespread misconceptions about trash that people have?

The most pervasive misconception regarding trash is the idea that items are to be thrown "away." There isn't and never has been a "away" for stuff to go. Living in industrialized cities, we tend to think of landfills as locations where things go to rot, disintegrate, and disappear, but in actuality, they often provide the perfect environment for preservation. Materials don't just stay in one place; even items we consider to be discarded find their way back into our bodies. Roughly 9 percent of the billions of metric tons of plastic waste produced to date has been recycled. The remainder has been discovered, frequently reduced to microplastics, in everything from human breast milk to human blood, and from the Mariana Trench to the summit of Mount Everest.

How come archaeology is known as the science of trash?

Archaeologists can be thought of as the trash haulers of the past, and the artifacts that people have discarded, forgotten, or were unable to recover are the remnants of history. Writing, research, analysis, and excavation are the ways that archaeology brings the past to life.

Archaeology History

Humans in antiquity were also interested in the past. When Nabonidus, King of Babylon in 550 BC, excavated his temple's foundations, he showed off what he found. In the Renaissance, intellectuals and nobles gathered "curios," or artifacts from the past, to display alongside rocks and other items that were considered to be part of "natural history." The 17th and 18th centuries saw more meticulous excavation of ancient Greek and Roman sites, which laid the foundation for the future discipline of archaeology. The displaced Indigenous people of North America left behind enormous mounds that were excavated by colonists and settlers in America. The most famous is probably Thomas Jefferson, who in 1784 documented the artifacts he had discovered from a burial mound on his land. The meticulous excavation methods used by Jefferson marked the start of the scientific method that is currently used in archaeology research.

 Large-scale excavations started in the 18th and 19th centuries at some of the biggest and most well-known sites in the world, including Pompeii. Modern field techniques were developed as a result of scientists being persuaded that modern humans existed earlier than the stories found in the Christian Bible by archaeological discoveries and the emerging field of evolution.

Archaeology underwent a reorganization in the 20th century, becoming a more scientific discipline and embracing new technologies as they became available. Federal laws in the United States safeguarded Native American material culture, historic sites, and certain practices used in anthropology and archaeology.

There are those who refer to archaeology as "the science of rubbish." Though humorous in nature, this also illustrates the presumption that archaeologists typically deal with objects that people have abandoned because they are unwanted or unnecessary.

What motivated you to research waste history?

Working at El Zotz, a Maya city in northern Guatemala during my graduate studies, piqued my interest in the history of waste. Our team's archaeologists discovered unusually large and dense artifact deposits in the palace located in the city center over the course of two field seasons.

 

Modern Archaeology: Far Above The Science Of Rubbish

Archaeology: golden treasures, lost tombs, and forgotten pharaohs—Magnificent archeological finds captivated wealthy explorers and frequently lone archaeologists in the past. Stereotypes persist. Many people still believe that archaeologists are fantastical adventurers searching for lost civilizations and royal tombs in far-off places. The stereotype of an archaeologist as either a treasure hunter or an eccentric, pith-helmeted professor excavating beneath massive pyramids has been reinforced by Hollywood productions such as Indiana Jones and Lara Croft. On the other extreme, over fifty years ago, the eminent British archaeologist Stuart Piggott made the perhaps facetious observation that archaeology is "the science of rubbish." That may sound like a corny description, but it is a lot closer to reality than Harrison Ford galloping through the narrow defile at Petra or facing off against menacing Nazi rivals.

While pharaoh's tombs and "rubbish" remain important topics in modern archaeology, the field has developed into a highly specialized and frequently obscure one. Simultaneously, the focus has shifted from large-scale excavation—the traditional form of archaeological study—to nonintrusive archaeology, which includes, among other things, ground-penetrating radar, aerial surveys, and sophisticated laboratory work. Archaeologists may spend more time in air-conditioned labs than in the field these days. With the precision of today's research, we are able to reconstruct the life stories of individual people from their bone chemistry and identify left-handed stone tool makers from 2.5 million years ago. 4300 years ago, an archer was buried close to Stonehenge in southern England. His teeth's oxygen isotope analysis showed that he was raised in Central Europe. Not that creative archaeology is all that new. Almost two hundred bison, stampeded into a small arroyo by Paleo-Indian hunters, were killed and processed on the Great Plains as early as 1960. The tactic behind this hunt was discovered by Joe Ben Wheat of the University of Colorado Museum. On the day of the hunt, Wheat even managed to determine the wind's direction—which was south—by observing the bison's orientation as it galloped downwind.

Even a half century ago, most people assumed that the chronological span of the human past was little more than a few hundred thousand years. Thanks to the potassium argon dating of dramatic fossil finds in East Africa by Louis and Mary Leakey in 1959 and 1960, and more recent finds by Tim White and others in Ethiopia, we now know that our history extends back at least 3 million years, probably longer.

The practices of today would astound an archaeologist from the 1930s. These days, we mainly rely on high-tech science and scientists from a wide range of academic fields, including physics, zoology, biology, genetics, and geology, to name just a few. For example, Jeffrey Dean and colleagues have recently discovered details of rainfall shifts from ancient tree rings in the American Southwest that are so accurate that large-scale, half-century- or less-old drought cycles from 1,000 years ago can be tracked from southeast to northwest.