Coins in large numbers, weapons and luxury goods such as silk, gold and corals have been found in the cesspits of citizens such as the Lübeck executioner. In fact, there are few things that cannot crop up in both cases. If we compare the contents of late-medieval latrines in the households of ordinary citizens and those of the aristocracy, the differences are not as great as might have been expected. The compost – and the finds contained in it – was usually spread on fields and in gardens as fertiliser.Ī glimpse into the already emptied latrine pit in Lübeck city centre. However, the contents of a latrine are only a snapshot of the time after it was last emptied. And lastly, things could be deliberately hidden in the latrine – more than one medieval murder victim has been found stashed in the toilet. This could even be valuable items such as full money purses and the like – perhaps this was the origin of the proverbial spendthrift ‘pissing his money away’ ( Geldscheisser in German). On the other, often things were simply lost in the ‘smallest room’. On the one hand, kitchen waste and general garbage are deliberately disposed of in these ‘universal waste disposal units’. Today’s archaeologists are only rarely bothered by the smell of the erstwhile contents, since the composting process is usually complete – unless the latrine was below groundwater level, in which case archaeologists can justifiably speak of an ‘indescribable aroma’!Īt first glance, it may come as a surprise how many of these finds ended up in a latrine. This dirty job was done by a separate occupational category in its own right, of lower social status, whose practitioners were also referred to, not without irony, as ‘gold diggers’. These shafts, which were widespread in the late Middle Ages, had to be emptied at regular intervals. ‘Latrines’ are shafts or pits reinforced with walls or timberwork, which received the refuse from lavatories (‘privies’). The ‘double seat’ of the lavatory is clearly visible in the centre. One hundred or so latrines were excavated during digs in Lübeck city centre between 20, including this privy dating from the early 13th century. Waste is a mirror of the society that makes it, and the archaeologist’s task is to unscramble this distorted picture through the filter of its often very haphazard preservation, and the cultural distance of several hundred years. Much more often, it deals with lost and discarded things: broadly speaking, waste. So, in methodological terms, archaeology as a discipline lies somewhere between the natural sciences and the humanities.Īrchaeology rarely deals with structures damaged by chance – the evidence of natural disasters such as the volcanic eruption that buried people and houses in the Roman city of Pompeii – or deliberately hidden objects. If written and pictorial sources are available, these will also be taken into account. But nonetheless, archaeology asks historical and sociological questions, and tries to answer them. The tools and procedures used by archaeologists on a dig are more like those of geologists than historians. It relies on the extraction of its most important sources – found objects, deposits and remains of building structures and deposits – from the soil. You can get any of these quests apart from the ones you have already completed.Archaeology can justifiably be described as probably the ‘dirtiest’ of the historical sciences. Note: This side quest becomes available as soon as the player scouts Torrinhos, regardless of the player's tech progress. And we did make a nice profit from our dealings with Pietro Escovar. Put your bad feelings aside, business is business. I know you have some concerns about his business, but you know the saying: Coins don't stink! Pietro Escovar asks your help in distributing some of his products.
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