Archaeologists Only

One from today's trip to Stratford:

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …s/kristanwebb/7​234919056/

Interesting photo... Archeology is mostly the study of other peoples trash. Broken and discarded things, disposal sites, privy pits, etc. Kinda gross if you think about it, but it is where the stuff is.

broadcast_techie wrote in post #14459348
They're re-digging Shakespeare's last home, judging by the signs around the edge mostly expecting to find rubbish!

boufa wrote in post #14459982
Interesting photo... Archeology is mostly the study of other peoples trash. Broken and discarded things, disposal sites, privy pits, etc. Kinda gross if you think about it, but it is where the stuff is.

You guys have an incredibly narrow view of archaeology. The majority is the excavation of historically important sites, and whilst it is true that much of what is dug up is broken, that does not make it rubbish. Were the treasures recovered from Tutankhamun's tomb rubbish? Was the Minoan civilisation? Or the Romans? Have you ever visited a museum with old artifacts in, they were mostly discovered by archaeologists? Visit a museum and see the wonders of ancient art and weaponry and a myriad of other things and say that archaeology is about trash.

Without archaeology, we would know almost nothing of the Romans, the Vikings, the medieval period etc., we would not have the great treasures of Ancient Egypt to wonder at, we would certainly know almost nothing about how any civilisation went about it's business, before our own very recent history.

Of course it is necessary to go through the waste to help understand everyday life, but that is just a part of the work. Finding a piece of art or treasure that has been untouched by human hands for thousands of years can be an amazing experience. I am currently wearing a Celtic "money ring", a beautifully designed piece of bronze work that would serve as currency before the invention of money. I often wonder about the people who wore it before me, three thousand years ago and what they did for a living, some would certainly have been merchants but also craftsman who created goods for sale and possibly even farmers. To have that connection with the past is fascinating, and I have quite a collection of artifacts going back thousands of years. The oldest is an obsidian tattoo needle about 12,000 years old, and I can only imagine the person who used it and the designs he made on other tribe members with it.

Without archaeology, those things would all still be buried and we would know almost nothing of the societies that created them. So, no, archaeology isn't mostly the study of trash.

boufa wrote in post #14459982
Interesting photo... Archeology is mostly the study of other peoples trash. Broken and discarded things, disposal sites, privy pits, etc. Kinda gross if you think about it, but it is where the stuff is.

One of my favorite models that I regularly work with is studying to be an archeologist. I find it incredibly fascinating.

boufa wrote in post #14459982
Interesting photo... Archeology is mostly the study of other peoples trash. Broken and discarded things, disposal sites, privy pits, etc. Kinda gross if you think about it, but it is where the stuff is.

Yeah, my wife wouldn't be really pleased with this reply, but we all have opinions.

A bunch of years ago, when I was in-between cameras, I was visiting family and we spent a week in the Four Corners area of the American Southwest, where Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico join. Besides being known for the "geometry" of the joining, the area is also known for the ruins of early Native Americans, going back to tribes that have been "lost in history", noteably the pre-Columbian Anasazi tribe.

We visited a museum one day and saw artifacts from the Anasazi era, including pottery that had been shattered and then glued back together and had some distinctive patterns.

Later, we visited a ruin that was a bit of a drive. The previous day there had been a rainstorm. As I walked with a neice off away from the ruins, at one point I looked down and in the dust I saw some bits of...something. I stopped and scooped some dust off, and saw pottery "shards" that had been revealed from the earlier rain -- shards that showed the same patterns that we had seen in the museum, hundreds of years old, laying exposed!

That was cool! Touching history, in fact, in this part of the world touching pre-history!

Apologies for any offence caused! My last comment should have been posted alongside the picture of the posters around the dig with cartoons showing Shakespeare throwing away his leaky ink well. The use of the word "rubbish" refers to what Shakespeare thought was trash not how the Trust will treat anything they find. I will try and post this tonight.
I find it fascinating how history can be pieced together from fragments and respect those who patiently sit in a hole carefully scraping away the earth a millimetre ata a time. My attention span wouldn't last long enough!
Sadly what is said in forums is often taken out of context and I again apologise.

sandpiper wrote in post #14460405
Finding a piece of art or treasure that has been untouched by human hands for thousands of years can be an amazing experience.

I managed to dig up a pot sherd and stone point during my first archaeology field school that threw off the dating for the entire site...not really epic treasure, but it made me laugh. On top of that, during that same school I found a human burial that caused a lot of paper work and headaches for my professor. Archaeology is fun!

broadcast_techie wrote in post #14459348
One from today's trip to Stratford:

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …s/kristanwebb/7​234919056/
Archaeologists Only by kristanwebb, on Flickr

They're re-digging Shakespeare's last home, judging by the signs around the edge mostly expecting to find rubbish!

No bi-peds allowed?

Good shot

Here is the other image: