2013/02/01 by Marlu Kühn, Ursula Maier, Christoph Herbig +3 · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies #Paleopathology and ancient diseases #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
paper · doi:10.1179/1461410313z.00000000017
openalex publication_date 2013/02/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/26
There has been evidence of dung in lakeside and moorland settlements since the beginning of wetland archaeology in the 19th century. While evidence has been found for the easily discernible faecal pellets of sheep and goats, recognition of cattle dung has proven to be considerably more difficult. In this study, we give an overview of evidence for dung remains in prehistoric wetland settlements in Germany, Switzerland and eastern France. Various methods for the analysis of uncharred dung remains are reviewed – analyses of plant macro- and microremains, micromorphology and palaeoparasitology – and are applied to two late Neolithic sites in Germany, Alleshausen-Täschenwiesen and Alleshausen-Grundwiesen. It will be shown that at Alleshausen-Täschenwiesen small ruminants were penned during the whole winter and fed on leaf hay unlike Alleshausen-Grundwiesen, where cattle browsed/grazed in the open during the day and were herded into the settlement during the night – both in summer and in winter.