Assistant professor of anthropology and archaeologist Jason Ur talks about the ancient city of Tell Brak in northeastern Syria. He explains how thousands of years of mud architecture can create a mountain, what trash tells us about where people lived, and how even the ugliest pottery can be lovely to the archaeologist. The May-June issue of Harvard Magazine reports on Jason Ur’s work in “Outside-In Ur-banism.” (via harvardmagazine.com)