The word ‘upcycling’ was invented in the 1990s to describe reusing old items in new ways, instead of throwing them out. However, it turns out upcycling has been done for a lot longer than this – three thousand years longer.
Archaeologists have spent the last seventeen years excavating an ancient manufacturing site called Saruq al-Hadid in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. So far, they have discovered a wide range of items made from gold, copper, bronze, silver and iron. While many of these metal objects were likely made at this site, there is also evidence of trade; pottery from Mesopotamia and beads from the Indus Valley have also been found.
The researchers realised that pottery containers at this site weren’t just thrown away when they were broken. Instead, the pieces were used to create tools. They’ve also learned that this desert site used to be surrounded by lakes, and are hoping to unearth even more secrets as they continue to dig into the past.
This article was published in Issue 39 of Double Helix magazine (https://www.csiro.au/en/Education/Double-Helix). Copyright for this article is held by CSIRO.
Lachlan Writes Science 