Example Of Essay On Garbology as Anthropological Tool

In the ancient times, archeologists used things like tombs and monuments to infer about the people who used to live there. However, not all information could be gathered from monuments and tombs. As a result, modern archeologists use other things like trash to learn about previous and present generations. By having this information, archeologists can then make inferences about the people’s economic status, religious beliefs and political beliefs. The premise behind the use of trash to learn about people has its basis on the fact that the waste materials people dispose can tell a thing or two about the people themselves.
In order to understand what trash tells about people, I decided to examine the waste materials that I dispose for one week. The inferences that I made after observing the trash were both intriguing and revealing. Intriguing because I did not expect my trash to give away so much about me and revealing because the trash offers other people the opportunity to learn about me.
For instance, the trash that I dispose reveals so much about my eating habits, and economic status to some extent. The absence of remnants of small meals and the heavy presence of burger boxes, disposable cups, and yoghurt reveals that the occupant does not have the time to prepare meals. It also indicates that the occupant spends much time away from the house. If the occupant stayed in the house most of the time and had time to prepare meals, then, it is also logical that the trash bin would also be full of food remains. Therefore, the scarcity of food remains points to the contrary.
Again, the presence of yoghurt, burger box and Starbucks plastic cups indicates that the occupant of the house prefers to have convenient foods. This emboldens the idea that the occupant of the house does not spend much time in the house, and does not have the time to prepare meals within the house.
As already indicated, the house has only one occupant. The amount of trash found in the bin gives the impression that only one household uses that bin. If the amount of trash was that great, it would give the impression that more than one households use the trash bin. Therefore, at the moment, it would be suffice to assume that the house is not occupied by a family – or someone with family responsibilities.
Lastly, the presence of beer bottles and pack of cigarettes gives the impression that the occupant of the house passes time by drinking and smoking inside the house. Even though the occupant of the house might not be a smoker, or a drinker, the presence of those items is an indicator that someone who smokes and drinks frequents the house.
In conclusion, the use of waste materials to study people and their habits is something which would be useful to archeologists in future. Although ancient archeology relied heavily on the use of fossils to learn about ancient generations, modern day archaeology does not have to limit itself to the use of those tools only. The use of garbology, for instance, would be useful in understanding present day generations and the shifts that have been made from previous generations.