By David Djaoui, territorial archaeologist at the Museum of ancient Arles and Provence, contract researcher at the CCJ/CNRS
From ancient times to the present day, people have generated all kinds of waste. Domestic waste, bulky waste, and even artisanal and industrial waste are all inevitably subject to more or less controlled waste management. Whether opportunistically and/or systematically recycled, buried in pits or piled high on landfill sites, all waste carries information about the societies that produced it. But how can you write the history of past civilisations from scraps alone? Archaeologist David Djaoui will be delving into the notion of interpretation in archaeology, using the vast underwater dumping ground in the Rhône river in Arles as a starting point, to unearth the history of the Romans in the area and unravel riddles dating back more than 2,000 years.
