By the Bronze and Iron Ages, communities were apparently taking pride in the mounds of domestic refuse (also known as ‘middens’) that they were able to build up over generations.

In southern England, for instance, are at least 30 very large (up to 52,500 square meters!) middens dating to the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age (approx. 1000-500 BC).

Above image developed at the University Of Nottingham, after Waddington, 2012