A New Multi-Scalar, Multi-Methodology for the Detection, Identification and Analysis of Ancient Animal Dung

Summary

Animal domestication has traditionally been investigated through archaeozoological approaches which can be problematic and may not detect the earliest stages in this important transformation (Zeder 2006). The study of dung provides an alternative line of evidence for the investigation of: animal presence and proximity, increased animal management, domestication and sedentism, potential secondary product use, animal diet and environment. To identify and analyse faecal material there is still the need for development of an integrated and systematic field and laboratory approach (Shillito et al. 2011; Shahack-Gross 2011). The standardisation and integration of analytical methods for faecal material identification and analysis is the primary step required in future dung research. This research develops a multidisciplinary approach that integrates field and laboratory analyses of archaeological dung from the Neolithic with comparative reference to modern ethnoarchaeological samples as control data. The aim in this research was to develop a methodology that enables detection and examination faecal deposits in the field as well as in specialist laboratories. Once dung remains have been successfully located using field methods, interdisciplinary analyses in the laboratory can inform on their type, content and context and provide direct evidence on interactions and relations between animals and plants, humans and environments.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Of Dung and Humans: The Archaeology of Livestock Dung   •
• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15068