Med avfall upp till knäna - En osteologisk studie av tafonomi och medeltida avfallshantering i kvarteret Blekhagen i Lund

The subject of this master level thesis in historical osteology, is a study of waste management in the medieval town of Lund. The aims of the study is achieved through looking at the taphonomic aspects of bonefragments from the quarter Blekhagen. The study is divided in two separate sections, one that is a litterature study of what is known about waste management, and another one that contains a taphonomic and spatial analysis. Through examination of the taphonomic variables weathering, average weight and trampling and a spatial analysis, I am able to deduce that there are signs of controlled waste management in the material. It is not possible to draw any general conclusions about waste management in the medieval town however. Yet it is possible to state that the general idea of medieval people wading through piles of garbage everywhere is probably wrong. To reach a final conclusion, however, further studies are needed. Some evidence show that there is some kind of shift in waste management during the last years of the middle ages, perhaps through the church wielding earthly power. There is also evidence that certain types of waste where dealt with in certain ways, for example fishes and waste from the tannery located in quarter during most of the middle ages. The literature study of what kind of taphonomic variables that are useful in a study of medieval material comes to the conclusion that all variables are valid, and useful. However some modifications of the existing methods are needed