These cheerful fellows are standing over a midden, or, as non-archaeological types like to call it, an ancient trash heap. Archaeologists tend to get really excited over them (as you can tell from the photo) because rummaging through old heaps of trash is one of the most truthful and accurate ways of finding out what people ate, used, and valued.
I ran into their modern-day associates a few weeks ago on the streets of New York. You’ll often find people rummaging through trash on the streets in search of bottles and cans to claim the recycling deposit (which is apparently illegal, in case you got any ideas). I happened to overhear a couple of guys chatting as they sorted through a trash can in the park, and one mentioned that people were switching from drinking soda to water, as he was finding so many more water bottles these days. For all the blog following and research I do, these DIY recyclers probably have some of the best insight into what citizens are really doing.
