“Part of what we’ve been doing is developing techniques [for landfills] that work with nature rather than fighting nature, and trying to make nature work for us instead of against us.” Kerry Rowe

Human beings have undoubtedly been throwing things away for as long as we have had things to throw. These ancient middens – the predecessors of our modern landfills – provide a treasure trove of artefacts for archaeologists, who sift through discarded items for clues to how people once lived.

Today’s dumpsites may well offer up similar insights to future investigators, but they are already revealing a great deal about how our environmental sensibilities have evolved over the last 60 or 70 years.

Continue the story on the Research at Queen’s website.