Today in class, we had an assignment where we were archaeologists from the future and had to figure out what people were like in 2012 based on their trash. One table was given Tide Glacier Fresh laundry detergent, an Ikea manual, a picture of a tractor, some food boxes, an envelope, and a drawing of a stove.

Bryan: Well, clearly, these people live beneath a glacier. That's why all of their stuff has to work with cold water, and why there is an emphasis on the glacier. They live in ice tunnels, and all of their food has to be grown in these snowy conditions, so that's why there is a tractor-snow-plow thingy. A person - presumably a man - drives the tractor and plows away all the snow so that they can grow their food, which seems to be mostly grains and things such as onions. These people who live in these snow-tunnels/glaciers also have a complex society, and are literate. They had a means to deliver mail between all of their snow tunnels, showing some sort of organization. Since they lived in the snow, staying warm was important to them, hence why they had the drawing of the stove. They wanted to make sure they were able to stay as warm as possible, and wanted to create an efficient stove. Finally, these people were involved in trade with the country known as 'Ikea,' which we believe to be located somewhere north of Sweden. This country specialized in manufacturing furniture of a simple, clean design with cheap materials and complicated instruction manuals.
Professor: It's a land where you get lost for hours at a time, your children get stolen from you, and they're only returned after you pay them large sums of money.