<html>Fish and Feces in the Low Countries: A Comparative Analysis of Macro-Remains and Shotgun Sequencing Results from Fecal Sediments (11<sup>th</sup> – 18<sup>th</sup> Century)</html>

Author(s): Sophie Rabinow

Year: 2025

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Global Perspectives on Biomolecular Approaches to Human-Animal Interactions Past and Present" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Shotgun sequencing of fecal sediments, i.e., foods passed through the digestive tract, has the potential to refine and specify morphology-based identifications, particularly for taxonomic groups such as fish, which are challenging to collect and identify. Here, we present the shotgun sequencing results from 13 Medieval and post-Medieval Low Countries fecal samples which we compare to the macro-remains recovered from each context. We contextualize these findings through the perspective of the Fish Event Horizon, a radical shift in fish exploitation and consumption in England and the Low Countries started in the Late Medieval period (AD 1000 – 1500). Archaeological fecal sediments supported an expectational concentration of DNA which allowed for the identification/ specification of several ichthyological and non-ichthyological faunal taxa, including sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) and, for the first time in Low Countries archaeological contexts, worm pipefish (Nerophis lumbricoides) and zander (Sander lucioperca). Overall however, morphological evaluations should not be dismissed in the stead of DNA, particularly from contexts with robust ichthyological/ zooarchaeological datasets, as many taxa reported morphologically evaded molecular amplification.

Cite this Record

Fish and Feces in the Low Countries: A Comparative Analysis of Macro-Remains and Shotgun Sequencing Results from Fecal Sediments (11th – 18th Century). Sophie Rabinow. Presented at The 90th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. 2025 ( tDAR id: 509639)

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Keywords

General
ancient DNA • Worldwide • Zooarchaeology

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 52328