Is it a sacred offering or just a piece of trash?
In short: Archaeologists face a constant dilemma: is a buried object a deliberate gift to the gods or simply a discarded scrap? The answer lies not in the object itself, but in its context. Understanding how humans treat their waste reveals as much about their lives as their treasures.
In archaeology, the distinction between a 'divine offering' and 'lost property'—or even deliberate rubbish—depends entirely on spatial and stratigraphic context. An object found in a specific location, such as a shrine, suggests a ritual purpose. However, when items appear in less prestigious settings, researchers must determine if they were lost, abandoned, or intentionally discarded as refuse. This distinction is a core focus for specialists like Michael Marshall, a Senior Finds Specialist at the Museum of London Archaeology. His work emphasizes that identifying the true nature of a find requires a rigorous study of its surroundings.
A striking example of this occurred during excavations at Silchester. Archaeologists discovered a small circular pit, roughly 1.07 meters in diameter and 0.45 meters deep, located at a road intersection. The pit contained a mixture of Victorian debris, such as tin cans and bottle-necks, alongside a mass of Roman material, primarily pottery. Because the Victorian items were strewn among the Roman material, it became clear that the Victorian excavators had dug the pit specifically to dispose of unwanted material from their own surrounding excavations. The pit was initially identified as a dark circular area of soil beneath the topsoil. It was located at the northern limit of the excavation site. The feature displayed sharp and angular breaks of slope at both its top and bottom.
This 'rubbish pit' serves as a meta-commentary on archaeological practice. It contained a large number of Roman pottery sherds, some with intact potter's stamps, and even rare items like a possible Romano-British chimney pot, all disposed of without record. By studying these discarded remains, researchers can reconstruct the 'discard policy' of the Victorian workers, gaining insight into their professional lives and how they prioritized what was worth keeping versus what was considered waste. The discarded Roman items also included animal skulls, bronze brooches, and various coins. Some of the pottery sherds were unique and not represented in the Reading Museum collection. These findings provide a rare glimpse into the specific techniques used by 19th-century excavators.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Bribing Local Spirits or Roman Rubbish: Context in Archaeology - Michael Marshall
- Also: Bribing Local Spirits or Roman Rubbish: Context in Archaeology
- Also: The Victorian rubbish pit - Silchester Archaeology
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