Should cesspits be excavated and recorded in detail? In the UK, cesspits often are considered ‘mundane’ and frequently overlooked during excavation or only half-heartedly recorded. This paper explores the biography of cesspits—their construction, use, reuse, and closure/abandonment, as well as their archaeological investigation and interpretation. What does a cesspit look like? How might we better recognise cesspits archaeologically? By exploring modern NGO guidance and high-quality archaeological studies of cesspits and latrines, we can begin to understand something of the common biography of these features. Comparison between the approach to the excavation/recording of cesspits in the USA with that of the UK also may inform our collective approach to these features at any archaeological site. Perhaps our own assumptions and approaches to the archaeological interpretation of these features may be hindering our understanding of their significance as important records of status and societal behaviour? This paper will conclude by exploring the interpretation of cesspits from two different chronological periods in the UK, outlining entirely different approaches to quite similar data.

是否应该挖掘并详细记录污水坑？在英国，污水坑经常被认为是“世俗的”，在挖掘过程中经常被忽略，或者只有三心二意的记录。本文探讨了污水坑的概况，包括它们的构造，使用，重用和关闭/废弃，以及它们的考古调查和解释。污水坑是什么样的？在考古学上我们如何更好地识别污水坑？通过探索现代非政府组织的指导以及对污水坑和厕所的高质量考古研究，我们可以开始了解这些特征的共同传记。在美国和英国，对污水坑的挖掘/记录方法之间的比较也可以为我们在任何考古现场针对这些特征的集体方法提供信息。也许我们自己对这些特征进行考古解释的假设和方法可能会妨碍我们将其作为地位和社会行为的重要记录的重要性的理解？本文将通过探索英国两个不同时间段对污水坑的解释来结束，概述完全相同的数据的完全不同的方法。