Muck 'n' molecules: Organic geochemical methods for detecting ancient manuring

Citation

Bull ID, Simpson I, van Bergen PF & Evershed RP (1999) Muck 'n' molecules: Organic geochemical methods for detecting ancient manuring. Antiquity, 73 (279), pp. 86-96. http://www.antiquity.ac.uk/ant/073/Ant0730086.htm

Abstract
The detection of manuring in antiquity can provide important information concerning the agricultural and waste disposal practices of ancient communities. Faecal biomarkers provide a reliable and highly diagnostic method for detecting ancient faecal inputs to soils irrespective of any morphological remnants of manuring.

Keywords
biomarkers, organic geochemistry, soils, experimental archaeology, manuring

Journal
Antiquity: Volume 73, Issue 279