Garbage archeology

The garbage archeology , also Garbologie or Garbology (from English 'garbage' for garbage ) examines the garbage of societies in order to learn more about their way of life and to draw social and cultural conclusions.

history

Strictly speaking, the investigation of piles of rubbish from prehistoric and early historical cultures is part of rubbish archeology, but is often counted as part of settlement archeology . Garbage archeology as a separate research discipline has existed since the 1970s. Modern garbage archeology is mainly concerned with current human legacies.

The science was developed in the 1970s in the garbage project by William L. Rathje . He was researching the garbage in Tucson , Arizona to find out more about residents' consumption patterns. The only German garbage archaeologist is Eva Becker.

Research subject

As left behind by humans, rubbish is an archaeological artifact . It can provide information on anthropogenic give history and behaviors. Historical rubbish consists almost exclusively of things that can no longer be used, such as broken vessels and leftover food such as bones, bones and mussel shells. Measured in the context of its excavation, the rubbish of the past has allowed conclusions to be drawn about the way of life, culture and society of the past for years.

Modern garbage archaeologists want to learn to better understand today's culture by using the garbage that is thrown away. Every piece of rubbish can tell a lot about the eating habits and waste disposal of the population. Rubbish in urban areas is of particular interest to garbage archaeologists. The location is particularly important here. It will be clarified to what extent the location is typical for the artifact. Household waste is also being examined more and more frequently today .

Research goals

Research goals are on the one hand to find out more about the behavior of humans and their social and cultural characteristics in certain areas. On the other hand, there is also the topic of the environment and how we could get people to deal more responsibly with raw materials and waste. Furthermore, valuable contaminated sites are stored in landfills, which are now to be reprocessed and fed back into the raw material cycle. The research aims to clarify how valuable raw materials can be recovered from the unseparated waste from the 1960s and 1970s. The first projects are already in place in collaboration with waste geologists.

research results

Previous studies on materials found that the throwaway culture in the big cities has changed from multiple use to single use. The industry is reacting to this and producing new consumer goods to meet the new requirements . Today, cups are often made of cardboard and plates are made of plastic . The garbage archaeologists are now working with other research disciplines to find out how the relationship between values is defined and why we are throwing away valuable raw materials such as crude oil .

For example, a long-term study found that the respondents consumed twice as many chips , bacon and sweets as they admitted in surveys. While fruits and vegetables often ended up in the garbage unused, this practically never happened with fast food . A larger study asked people about their eating habits and then examined their household waste. The information and findings did not match.

A waste project at the University of Ghent in Belgium showed when citizens switched from briquettes and coal to other heating materials. If the remains from the coal stoves were found in older layers, they were missing in the layers from the 1960s onwards. At the same time, the proportion of plastic waste rose rapidly.

Education

In Germany, garbage archeology is not yet an independent scientific discipline .

literature

From Tikal to Tucson: Today's Garbage is Tomorrow's Artifact (Rathje, 1981). In: Applying Anthropology: An Introductory Reader. ISBN 0-7674-1841-7 .