Dung Management in Medieval and Post-Medieval Brussels (Belgium)

Summary

During archaeological excavations in the center of Brussels (Belgium), often stratigraphic units containing dung – either omnivore-carnivore, including human, or herbivore – have been encountered. A multidisciplinary approach, comprising soil micromorphology, phytolith analysis and parasitology on soil thin sections, chemical analyses, including GC-MS and phosphorus measurements, was adopted to identify and characterize dung remains. In some cases dung was observed as part of the manure added to pre-urban and urban agricultural and horticultural soils. Under other circumstances, we were instead able to identify the very stable where dung was purposely accumulated for later use ("podstal" or "sunken byre"). In one site we observed the accumulation of dung in an area where waste from latrines and houses accumulated. Such contexts provide important insights on dung management practices and on the value of dung in Brussels between the 10th and 16th century AD.

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): 15752