My next assignment for my archaeology course is looking at rubbish… because often on archaeological sites the place where the most artefacts are found is the old rubbish dumps, the middens where refuse was chucked and occasionally other items were lost. The aim of the exercise we are undertaking is to think of the skills needed, sorting, categorizing, dating, deducing… What could we tell about the people who threw away the rubbish ad the society they lived in, and their position in that society? What social, cultural, and economic inferences could we draw?
This MOOC, this massive on-line open course,from Brown University, is accompanied by a series of videos, articles, suggested further reading and other links, as well as giving a really practical way of practising techniques in an ordinary domestic setting.
I’m loving it… only three more weeks to go, and then what shall I do… oh yes, write my next novel!
Lois Elsden 