Tower in the Great Enclosure, Great Zimbabwe   By Andrew Moore from Johannesburg, South Africa - Conical Tower - Great Enclosure III, CC BY-SA 2.0 Planning a Dig  While watching a documentary about an archaeological dig, I noticed how the team decided on first steps in their investigation into the history and development of an ancient huge African city. Instead of looking at the obvious features such as the central enclosure and outer walls, they started on a steep hillside where there seems to be a dump! Why? Because that is where they would find the remains of everyday life of the majority of the people.  We naturally notice the rich, the famous, the powerful--those in the headlines. But as we investigate our families, and the families of our ancestors, where do we find them? Only rarely in the headlines. Instead, we find them in letters, diaries, recipes, snapshots, social columns, legal and other government records, obituaries . And many choose to follow the pat...