historic ruins are often a good place for archaeologists to search for evidence of the way people used to live. often the ruins have all sorts of interesting things buried in them. archaeologists call the things that they find "artefacts". artefacts might include beautiful artworks, jewellry and gold coins but usually they are ordinary things like cooking pots, mugs, spoons, hair combs, pipes, old shoes, broken toys and rats' nests. historians use the evidence found by the archaeologists to write about the place and what might have happened there.