Remnants of Pain and Suffering
A Narrative of a War Victim from the Perspective of Medical Archaeology and Garbology
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jca.22507Keywords:
garbology, Iran–Iraq War, medical archaeology, spinal cord injury, urinary incontinenceAbstract
During an archaeology of garbage project in the city of Tehran in 2018, a garbage bag was documented that presented objects signifying pain and illness. The study of this material evidence indicated that the garbage was from a patient who was hospitalized at home, but a written document also present in the same garbage bag provided further context that led us to revise our initial interpretation. The document showed that these objects were linked not just to a disabled person, but to a victim of the Iran–Iraq War. The violence of war thus extends through time and affects all aspects of everyday life, changing its victims forever. The evidence for this includes waste and garbage. In this paper, we attempt to narrate the story of the pain and suffering of a war victim based on his garbage, a man whose life has been changed forever by war.
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