Filled with food waste, junk mail and wrappers, our trash speaks volumes about how we live day-to-day. While the items people discard have changed over the centuries, the revealing nature of human trash has not.

That’s why a team of archaeologists hoping to understand the lives of ancient traders decided to find, excavate and analyze trash deposits along Silk Road routes in Israel. Digging into the desert ground at Aravah, the researchers uncovered a “treasure trove” of trash, according to a Jan. 17 news release from the Israel Antiquities Authority.

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The “trash mounds” contained cotton and silk fabrics likely imported from China and India about 1,300 years ago, researchers said. Based on the location, features and age of the fabrics, archaeologists concluded the Aravah site was along a branch of the Silk Road’s network of trade routes.

Read more: Miami Herald