Around 1861, a homemaker in Williamsburg, Virginia, lost a valuable silver dinner fork. She probably blamed the neighbors, but a new investigation reveals the real culprit.
The thief was a rat, one whose family had lived in the walls of the house for generations, nicking a biscuit here and there, or pilfering a fork for fun.
So says Dani Jaworski, manager of architectural collections at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, who told Atlas Obscura that rat nest archeology has become useful in the last 30 years. Seems the nests of rats contain all sorts of random items that reveal the lives of the humans they lived with (and were dependent on).
A rat's nest discovered at Thomas Jefferson's retreat in western Virginia revealed stolen game pieces and a whole shoe.
In fact, rat families can live in the same area for thousands of years, according to Science News. In central Oregon, a string of caves was inhabited by Americans about 14,000 years ago and we know that because of pack rats, the curious critters who gleefully make off with everything they can find.
An archaeologist working in Oregon's Paisley 5 Mile Point Caves told Science News that researchers have to keep their tools picked up because the pack rats will make off with them.
The researchers found that rat nests still hold remains of baskets, cord, sandals and fishing nets from humans of thousands of years ago. The discoveries help reveal what humans made and even what they ate.
