Student Blog — There’s Rats in the Trash! (BcGn-15’s Midden Unit)

Matie Torrance

You know all the stuff you throw away when you’re moving out? How it’s all thrown together in a big pile? If you took 20^th Century garbage and did exactly that, you’d get Julie and I’s unit at BcGn-15, OA4: the midden. How I’m writing this may sound like I have a certain disdain for middens and garbage, but the discoveries and interesting conclusions we developed at the end of our dig were far from it. If you’re an archaeologist, or an inspiring one, the midden is the place to be! Middens provide us with excellent source materials for the habits and behaviours of previous occupants of a site. One of the major benefits of a garbage pit is the number of artifacts we yielded; this was likely close to 600—900 artifacts in a 1×2 unit, which was exceptional considering the excitement we felt finding a single artifact on BcGn-17, our previous site along Pioneer Road. Some of our coolest finds were the things we aptly named “doohickeys.” In OA4 speak, this refers to pieces of metal that we didn’t quite know what they were from, likely industrial or domestic tool pieces. When in the lab washing the artifacts, we were finally able to identify a few of these doohickeys: clothespin wire springs, eyelets from footwear, a railroad track spike, lots of nails, an entire iron, metal wire likely from fencing, and many more. Along with metal, and some of my favourites, we found a variety of small ceramic sherds, colourful glass (blue, green, brown, clear, turquoise), nylon stockings, leather, mammal bones, a skeleton key, and a rubber drain plug; it’s impossible for me to name every amazing find or else this post would go on way too long! While finding artifacts, digging, sifting, and trowelling 50cm into the earth while listening to Steely Dan was a major highlight, my favourite part of field school was all the amazing people I met while I was here. I’ve made some fantastic friends, whom I’m excited to share future classes with, and remember all the silliness and good times of ANTH-3000Y (Shoutout to my rats and fellow adopted rats!).