Romano-Libyan Dryland Animal Husbandry and Landscape: Pollen and Palynofacies Analyses of Coprolites from a Farm in the Wadi el-Amud,Tripolitania

Pollen and palynofacies from sheep/goat, rodent and human coprolites of Romano-Libyan, Arab and recent age from a farmstead in the Wadi el-Amud, Tripolitania, Libya are described. There are few differences between assemblages from modern sheep/goat dung and from recent aeolian sand—both contain high percentages of desert species and significant far-travelled pollen. The Romano-Libyan and Arab samples contain high percentages of steppe taxa, suggesting significant vegetation change has occurred subsequently. Romano-Libyan sheep/goat dung samples are often dominated by single taxa, suggesting that the grazing of these animals was closely controlled or that they were stalled and fed hay, cereal waste or other crop residue. This practice seems to have contributed to the longevity of a mixed-Mediterranean agroecosystem in the predesert by preventing widespread and indiscriminate grazing and consequent landscape destabilization.     

Herbivorous livestock dung: formation,taphonomy, methods for identification,and archaeological significance

Herbivore livestock dung has been identified in archaeological sites around the world. Focusing on dung from the ubiquitous Old World herbivorous domesticates – sheep, goats and cattle – this review deals with the materials found within dung that have relevance to archaeology. The natural and anthropogenic/cultural taphonomic processes that affect the preservation and identification of livestock dung, and the archaeological information that can be extracted through detailed studies of the context and content of identified livestock dung in archaeological sites is modeled and discussed.     

The utility of livestock dung for reconstructing recent ethnological and environmental histories

Animal dung is evaluated here as a tool to reconstruct recent societal and environmental changes. Studies completed on the macro- and micro-contents from dung deposited in a mountain cave in Catalonia during the 1970–1980s, preceding the socio-economic changes in the area, was supplemented by the testimony of the last shepherd alive in the area. This information was also compared with evidence from aerial photographs of the area surrounding the cave taken in 1956 and 2009. Although taphonomic distortion of the dung shape precluded its assignment to its producers based on morphology, information from the organic remains reflects the agro-pastoral activities in the mountainous area of the Catalan coast. A lack of calcium phosphate and abundant phytolith and epidermal remains from wild species indicates that the dung was excreted by ovicaprines, who sheltered in the cave during spells of adverse weather. These indicators also signify that the animals fed only on natural vegetation. Insect remains in the dung include fragments of chafers, dung and ground beetles, bees and ants, and whilst the latter may have foraged in the cave, the others may have been accidentally ingested by herbivores. The nannofossils and diatoms found in the dung derive from tertiary crops 4 km away from the cave but within the range of the ovicaprine herd. The lack of cereal and vegetable remains in the dung is consistent with the ethnographic record that shepherds and farmers could not afford to supplement the herds’ diet with fodder crops or grain, a consequence of the low productivity of the local subsistence agriculture. This study further discusses the socio-economic impacts of the introduction of intensive farming, industrialisation and tourism in Catalonia during the latter part of the last century and how they are represented in the dung.     

What goes in does not always come out: The impact of the ruminant digestive system of sheep on plant material,and its importance for the interpretation of dung-derived archaeobotanical assemblages

Abstract

On archaeological sites where livestock dung was a major fuel source, plant material that survives digestion intact may well be preserved in the remnants of dung-fuelled fires. Preserved plant remains which were derived from dung relate to the diet of animals, and thus provide a way of investigating the agro-pastoral economies of the past. In order to improve our understanding of the taphonomic processes to which plant material is exposed to during digestion, we applied archaeobotanical methods to the analysis of dung from sheep fed a known diet of cereal and wild plant material. Two clear patterns emerge from these investigations. First, cereal material (grain or chaff) survives digestion poorly and was rarely found in the dung analysed. Second, large proportions of seeds of various wild species survive digestion in an identifiable form, probably due to their small size and/or protective coating. These findings are crucial for reliable interpretation of dung-derived plant material in archaeological settings.     

A meal on the hoof or wealth in the kraal? Stable isotopes at Kgaswe and Taukome in eastern Botswana

Iron Age sites associated with the Toutswe tradition in Eastern Botswana date between CE 700–1300 and share a variety of settlement patterns, economic features and material culture. The presence of domestic fauna, settlement structures and concentrations of vitrified dung provide archaeological evidence for herding economies. However, due to factors of preservation and past retrieval techniques, evidence for plant remains is still somewhat limited for the Toutswe sites in Botswana. Additionally, archaeological remains such as flora, fauna and material culture often provide only indirect evidence for their contributions to diet. This study provides new evidence for the diet of individuals from the Toutswe tradition. Given the large numbers of animal remains and residues at Toutswe sites, the expectation is that animal domesticates were also an integral part of the diet. Stable isotopic analysis of human remains indicates that even though domestic cattle and sheep occur in great abundance at Toutswe sites, their contribution to the diet may be minimal. The main source of protein for individuals at Kgaswe and Taukome comes from C4 plants such as sorghum and millet and to a lesser extent, animal products. The practice of maintaining large domestic herds for economic and social reasons rather than for primary subsistence in southern Africa today may have its roots in the Iron Age populations of the region. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Zooarchaeological evidence for Moslem and Christian improvements of sheep and cattle in Portugal

This study of osteometric variation of sheep and cattle remains from archaeological sites in southern Portugal—the part that was once ruled by the Moslems—reveals an increase in size of the sheep in Moslem times and a subsequent increase of the cattle following the Christian conquest. It is assumed that a size increase reflects improvement. Sheep size increase is easy to understand given the Moslem fondness for mutton. The later size increase of the cattle is less easy to understand but could reflect a dietary switch from mutton to beef as well as the need for bovine power.     

Dismantling Dung: Delayed Use of Food Resources among Early Holocene Foragers of the Libyan Sahara

At Uan Afuda, and other Early Holocene sites of the Acacus mountains, in the Libyan Sahara, dung layers and plant accumulation are a major, but repeatedly neglected, feature of hunter-gatherer communities. To understand the formation and meaning of such features, a multidimensional analysis has been undertaken, combining micromorphological, palynological, botanical, archaeozoological, and archaeological data. The hypothesis here formulated is twofold: plant accumulations are evidence of anthropic activity aimed at the storage of fodder; and dung layers are related to a forced penning of a ruminant, very likely Barbary sheep (Ammotragus lervia). The exploration of these two features has hinted at the existence of a deep reciprocal relationship, which has been interpreted as the cultural control of wild Barbary sheep, leading to a delayed use of food resources. This behavior may be considered an opportunistic strategy adopted to minimize the effects of lean periods and implicates increasing cultural complexity within Late Acacus Saharan forager societies of the 9th millennium B.P.     

汉晋时期河西走廊张掖地区的开发研究——以黑水国汉代墓葬为例

黑水国汉代墓葬出土的农具、动物骨骼、农作物遗存和人骨为人们了解河西走廊张掖地区汉晋时期生业经济和农业发展等问题提供了重要证据。通过动物骨骼、农作物遗存鉴定结果和人骨碳氮同位素检测结果,可以揭示汉晋时期黑水国人群的食物结构和生业模式特点。墓葬出土的农作物有粟、黍、稻,随葬动物有鸡、猪、绵羊、黄牛、狗、马,人骨骨胶原碳稳定同位素主要呈现C₃和C₄混合信号,部分呈现C₃信号和C₄信号,氮稳定同位素值相较牛羊等家养食草动物较高。综合研究说明汉晋时期河西走廊形成麦类、粟黍和豆类的混合农业模式,所以黑水国汉代先民摄取的粮食作物来源呈多样化。同时,河西走廊畜牧业发达,使当时人群摄取了大量的肉食资源,导致蛋白质摄入量较高。     

Identifying Shell Middens With Historic Aerial Photos: An Example From California's Santa Cruz Island

Using 1929 aerial photos of western Santa Cruz Island, we identified numerous potential shell midden locations, followed by confirmation of site locations via field reconnaissance. Heavy grazing by sheep, cattle, and pigs closely cropped island vegetation in the early twentieth century, exposing shell middens now often covered with thick vegetation. We discuss the potential and limitations of early aerial photos as aids to archaeological site identification and management in island and coastal settings. Although results varied from island to island, we found historic aerial photos to be extremely useful for documenting previously unrecorded sites on Santa Cruz Island, ranging from historical EuroAmerican sites to Island Chumash sites dating to as much as 7250 cal BP. These methods may also be applicable to other islands around the world subject to heavy livestock grazing in the past, especially where introduced animals have been removed and recovering vegetation now obscures archaeological sites.     

Ancient molecules and human prehistory

Abstract

DNA and other molecules found in ancient remains are yielding new information about the origins, spread, interaction, and culture of early humans. Molecules of animal fats preserved in archaeological pottery have shown that in medieval societies people ate non-ruminant animals, such as pigs, but burned tallow from ruminants, such as sheep and cattle. Geochemical analysis of bitumen in the Middle East has documented ancient trade routes. Studies of molecular genetic diversity have shed light on when and how cattle were domesticated. Analysis of human hair from remains up to 5200 years old has revealed the diets of those ancient people. DNA recovered from other remains has also provided evidence for theories about the origins and spread of agriculture, and human migration into the Pacific.     

Subsistence practices in an arid environment: a geoarchaeological investigation in an Iron Age site,the Negev Highlands,Israel

The Negev Highlands (southern Israel) is an arid zone characterized by settlement oscillations. One settlement peak occurred in the early Iron Age IIA (late 10th and early 9th centuries BC). The most conspicuous structure in many sites of this period is an oval compound comprised of an internal courtyard surrounded by rooms. Two hypotheses for the function of these oval compounds are that they served as Israelite fortresses which guarded the southern border and routes of the Solomonic kingdom, or that they represent local agro-pastoral groups. In order to gather more information regarding the subsistence practices conducted in these oval compounds, we carried out a small-scale excavation at the site of Atar Haroa. We focused on sediment sampling and used several geoarchaeological, as well as isotopic, techniques in order to identify macroscopic and microscopic remains related to animal husbandry and crop agriculture. The remains identified from the archaeological sediments were compared with modern reference materials collected from abandoned Bedouin camps. The excavation included two half rooms and several test pits in the courtyard of the oval compound, featuring one Iron Age occupation level composed of gray sediments and relatively small amounts of pottery, bones and macro-botanical charred remains. Micromorphological, mineralogical, dung spherulite and isotopic analyses carried out on the gray occupational sediments from the rooms show that they originate from wood ash and dung, both used as fuel. Similar analyses of the gray sediments in the courtyard show that they originate only from degraded livestock dung. Phytolith analyses show that the gray anthropogenic sediments have similar concentrations of phytoliths as in control (yellowish) sediments and in the dung of winter free-grazing desert livestock and lichen-grazing black dwarf Bedouin goats. Phytoliths indicative of cereal crops are completely absent in the archaeological dung remains, indicating that cereal crops were not processed by the site inhabitants. Based on ethnographic and archaeological parallels, and on the presence of grinding stones and absence of sickle blades in the excavated rooms, we infer that the inhabitants at the oval compound at Atar Haroa subsisted on livestock herding and bought or exchanged cereal grains. Our results support the hypothesis that the inhabitants at the oval compound at Atar Haroa were desert-adapted pastoralists, rather than garrisoned soldiers.     

A complex Neolithic economy: isotope evidence for the circulation of cattle and sheep in the TRB of western Sweden

We report here the results of strontium, oxygen and carbon isotope analysis of teeth from domestic animals at two Neolithic settlement sites in Falbygden, Sweden. The main result is the high mobility of domestic animals, particularly of cattle but also of sheep. More than half of the analysed cattle teeth show strontium isotope signals indicating that they were raised in an area of Precambrian rock, outside the sedimentary Cambro-Silurian rocks found in Falbygden. This is in marked contrast to pigs, which were mostly local to Falbygden. The mobility of cattle is much higher than that of humans, for which the frequency of immigrants is about 25%.     

Stable isotope insights (δ18O, δ13C) into cattle and sheep husbandry at Bercy (Paris,France, 4th millennium BC): birth seasonality and winter leaf foddering

Abstract

Bercy is a prehistoric village sited by the Seine river (Paris, France), whose main period of occupation was dated to the very beginning of the 4th millennium BC. The animal subsistence economy relied heavily on cattle husbandry, complemented by other species including sheep. Cattle and sheep isotopic history (δ¹³C, δ¹⁸O) was investigated at the seasonal scale, through sequential sampling in tooth enamel, providing new insights into seasonality of birth and diet. Sheep were lambing in mid-spring, only slightly later than expected from what is observed nowadays in temperate Europe at similar latitude. Cattle were born over a period spanning approximately six months, which was an unexpected result compared with a two to three months calving period in free-ranging cattle populations. The extension of the calving period might have been related to seasonal food supplementation. Some cattle and some sheep fed on a ¹³C-depleted resource in winter, potentially leafy fodder. A direct consequence of an extended calving period would be the availability of cow milk, which would have covered the whole year at Bercy. This is important information in a context where the exploitation of cattle milk by the human community was highly suspected from the demographic management of the herd.     

Collagen fingerprinting of archaeological bone and teeth remains from Domuztepe,South Eastern Turkey

We applied a recently developed method of collagen peptide mass fingerprinting for taxonomic identification in faunal remains to 111 specimens from the Neolithic site of Domuztepe in southeastern Turkey. Advances on the published technique allow us to move beyond the key domesticated fauna (sheep, goat, pig and cattle) to include non-domesticates (deer and gazelle, as well as humans). As the animal economy of Domuztepe was dominated by domestic sheep and goats, a large number of the samples tested were morphologically indistinguishable sheep/goat remains. A number of samples represented elements that provide information on age (i.e., mandibles) or sex (pelvis); thus, this represents the first major study to attempt to improve kill-off profiles using collagen fingerprinting. We also show that the collagen extracted from dentine is equally amenable to the proposed methodology as bone collagen.     

Shepherds,cowherds and site function on middle Neolithic sites of the Rhône valley: An archaeozoological approach to the organization of territories and societies

Our understanding of the organization of the territories and the Neolithic societies of the north-western Mediterranean region remains incomplete because of the preference long accorded to caves and rock shelters in archaeological research, and because these sites are closely linked to one taxon, the sheep and goats. In the middle valley of the Rhône, comparison of the pastoral practices specific to cattle and to sheep and goats, in relation to cave as well as open-air occupations, enables definition of the relations that existed between the sites during the late phase of the Chassean culture. It is demonstrated that the different stages of the annual pastoral cycle were distributed among several sites, whether for sheep and goats or for cattle, and that the large open-air sites had distinct functions according to the species exploited. The discovery of a specialization of places and of practices (general for the caves, partial for the large open-air sites) then leads us to propose the existence of a specialization of individuals or at least small groups (shepherds and cattle herdsmen) as of the beginning of the fourth millennium BC in this region. These elements suggest that population movements of different kinds occurred in the Chassean period in the middle Rhône Valley.     

Combined pollen and macrofossil data as a source for reconstructing mosaic patterns of the early medieval urban habitats – a case study from Gdańsk,N. Poland

Plant macrofossils, pollen, fungal spores and other non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs), were analyzed in three archaeological exposures established in a small area in the oldest part of the historic city of Gdańsk. One of the aims was to investigate how precisely the combined pollen and macrofossil data may reflect the diversity of local habitats within an urban archaeological site and to compare the range of information obtained using each of the methods separately. The other aim of the study was to reconstruct the environmental conditions in the earliest occupied area of the historic centre of Gdańsk. The repeatable composition and, in many points, consistency among pollen and macrofossil data in all three profiles strongly suggest that the apparently biased structure of these fossil remains in fact reflects a mosaic pattern of the vegetation in the area of the site. The combined pollen and macrofossil data enabled separation of local elements from those transported to the site by different means. The results show that already at the beginning of the 12th c., the area was almost totally deforested, but up to the mid-13th c. the settlement organization was still relatively loose, resembling a rather rural structure with well-developed ruderal plant communities and patches of semi-natural vegetation. At the coring area, strongly eutrophic riparian vegetation was bordering patches of dry grassland on a sandy holm. The large proportion of pollen of various entomophilous plants mostly from meadows and pastures is explained as a result of the presence of dung, as confirmed by the abundances of coprophilous fungal spores. The study indicates that parallel pollen and macrofossil analysis is essential for correct interpretation of fossil assemblages. Application of both methods enables broadening of the range of remains representing various organisms and obtaining more precise tools for environmental reconstruction and better understanding of the taphonomic processes at the archaeological site.     

Sugar Monoculture,Bovid Skeletal Part Frequencies,and Stable Carbon Isotopes: Interpreting Enslaved African Diet at Brimstone Hill,St Kitts,West Indies

Sugar production was so pervasive in the British West Indies during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries that provisions were regularly shipped to the islands from as far away as Europe and North America. Skeletal part frequencies of bovids from late 18th century enslaved African contexts at Brimstone Hill Fortress, St Kitts, indicate that sheep and goats were probably raised locally, but that many of the cattle bones were transported to the site as barrelled beef. Stable carbon isotopes in sheep, goat, and cattle bones confirm these interpretations. This, in spite of the fact that cattle remains from Brimstone Hill included numerous marrow bones that ostensibly were excluded from barrelled beef. It is concluded that marrow bones, while reportedly excluded from barrelled beef, may have been included in provisions destined for enslaved Africans in the West Indies.     

Some Methods for an Agricultural Typology of the South of Krasnoyarsk Kray

Cartographic techniques are used to define 12 types of farms in the Minusinsk Basin. The source maps used in the typology cover physical characteristics of agriculture (climate, soils, landforms, natural vegetation, drainage patterns), economic conditions (population, industry, transportation) and indicators of farm performance (specialization, intensity of farming, value of gross output). The predominant farm types in the wooded steppe and subtayga environment of the right bank of the Yenisey River include grain and cattle (beef and dairy) production. The principal types in the drier environment of the steppe and semi-steppe of the Khakas Autonomous Oblast, on the left bank, include sheep raising in addition to cattle and grains. The typology of farm types is a useful basis for future planning of agriculture in the study region, where major industrial projects are under way.     

“So bigge as bigge may be”: tracking size and shape change in domestic livestock in London (AD 1220–1900)

This study presents the analysis of 7966 individual cattle, sheep, pig and domestic hen bone measurements from 105 sites excavated in London dating to the period AD 1220–1900. Multiple episodes of size change are identified, although the speed and timing varies by species. The earliest evidence for size change in cattle and sheep occurs in the early 14th century and may be connected to the need to restock livestock populations following the outbreaks of murrain in the first half of that century. Subsequent size increases in livestock size may have occurred as a combined consequence of agricultural innovations in the wake of the Black Death, the increasing commercialisation of animal farming, as the meat requirements of an expanding London grew, and the rise of the ethic of improvement.     

The identification of archaeological dung deposits on the basis of remains of predatory mites (Acari; Gamasida)

The results of a study of recent predatory mite faunas, characteristic of the dung of different domestic animal species, forms the basis of a two-step identification method for archaeological dung deposits. The method is illustrated by a study of the remains of the predatory mites found in 12 mediaeval dung samples from the north of The Netherlands.