In turn, the archaeologists fell on pieces of rubbish. Using methods that are generally reserved for recording stone tools and bones, the team recorded items such as plastic spoons, eye glasses, bottle caps, straws, mobile phone batteries, paint cans, candy packs, and covers. plastic. By the time the experiment was over, the archaeologists had found nearly 3,000 objects, most of them made. plastic.
Surprisingly, that plastic would not be available at the site, an old hill fort in Wales. Of course, it was expected, but not to this extent.
From the 1980s, two Iron Age roundhouses appeared on this site, matching those of the former Iron Age fort of Castell Henllys at the end of the first millennium BCE.
Most of the visitors to the children’s site were out on field trips, and their legacy is no longer understood. Like the new Antiquity paper demonstrations, it is the custom of plastics to stick around – including heritage sites that existed long before these synthetic materials were created. It is another sign that we have entered the Anthropocene, a time when we are recreating the planet in our image.
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The replica roundhouses at Castell Henllys had two different purposes. The first, named Cookhouse, was established as an Iron Age roundhouse, and the second, called Earthwatch, was designed as a classroom, where students sat on it. benches to learn and eat the snacks.
The Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, which manages the site, has recently decided to dismantle the outstanding roundhouses. to health and safety concerns. Before new structures were built, however, archaeologists thought it wise to excavate the site. It would be a good opportunity to study decomposition processes, to find out what human activities cause residual waste, and how redesigned structures could affect the integrity of prehistoric structures. located at the same site. Here, the two replica roundhouses were built literally in the same place as the real ones that existed more than 2,000 years ago. As the authors wrote in their study, “we anticipated that the collections and distributions at Castell Henllys could be valuable tests for linking accidental accident with patterns of activity. ”
This was the case, but the amount of litter visible on site was higher than it had been expectations.
“We often find a bit of debris recently when we start excavating, or if we find a deliberate dump, but we will never be like this within a heritage or career site building. , ”Harold Mytum, an archaeologist at Liverpool University and the first author of the new paper, explained in an email.
This is not to say that the heritage site has been poorly managed. The roundhouses were regularly cleaned to maintain the appearance and feel of the prehistoric Iron Age setting. But as the new research shows, an incredible amount of debris found its way into the soil, resulting in the discovery of so many objects. Needless to say, most of the material found was found in Earthwatch, where the students ate the snack. Most of the materials were small and fragmented in nature, such as torn packages, which explains why not all the waste was collected.
“Children’s packs [lunch packs] they can damage the planet – they contain a lot of plastic and things will be dropped and lost, ”said Mytum. “Also, candy wrappers are plastic and pose another environmental hazard.”
Needless to say, when this plastic was discovered, although it was certainly part of the experiment, it made the archaeologists turn down their approach. The scientists had been recording what was found, but had to alter their facilities “to make the evidence correct,” Mytum said. That said, it did not affect the ability of archaeologists to study the decay of buildings over the decades. and to the document the distinctive names left by our modern civilization.
“In fact, it showed how artefacts get into the furnace and also where they were denser inside the houses,” Mytum explained. “There is less to be found in prehistoric houses, but we can imagine how activity leaves its mark in archeology. ”
Moving forward, Mytum and his colleagues will continue to work with the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park to educate the public about these issues. and to find more effective ways to keep these important places clean.
But it will not be easy.
“Even well-managed rural areas can build up a lot of plastic in the soil,” said Mytum. “The Plastic Age – a symbol of the Anthropocene – has certainly come not only to the oceans of the Blue Planet, but also to its soils. Reducing plastics is vital – this debris was the result of our lifestyles even in a place where modern materials, such as plastic waste, are cleared so as not to affect the experience of heritage visitors . ”
He told him: “If it’s so bad here, it’s a sign that our way of life needs to be rethought.”