Treasure and trash in the mud - Expert talk on Mudlarking by Lara Maiklem

This is the first of a series of hybrid expert talks connected to the temporary exhibition Throwaway – the history of a modern crisis.
Lara Maiklem will kickstart this series by giving her unique insights about mudlarking: the practice of scouring riverbeds to search for objects from the past. The River Thames in London – as other cities’ rivers – has always been one of the final places where different kinds of rubbish end up.
From historical objects, such as disposable clay pipes – the equivalent of modern cigarette butts ! – to modern waste, what does rubbish tell us about societies’ past, present and future?