Federico Polisca , Marta Dal Corso , Maela Baldan , Mara Bortolini , Dario Battistel , Gregorio Dal Sasso , Francesca Gherardi , Matthew Canti , Giorgio Piazzalunga , Cristiano Nicosia
{"title":"Phosphatic crusts as macroscopic and microscopic proxies for identifying archaeological animal penning areas","authors":"Federico Polisca , Marta Dal Corso , Maela Baldan , Mara Bortolini , Dario Battistel , Gregorio Dal Sasso , Francesca Gherardi , Matthew Canti , Giorgio Piazzalunga , Cristiano Nicosia","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106207","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study introduces new macroscopic and microscopic evidence for identifying archaeological animal penning areas: phosphatic crusts. Despite the importance of herding activities for reconstructing the social, economic, and ecological aspects of ancient communities, evidence for animal penning areas has traditionally relied on faint architectural traces or microscopic indicators that are often challenging to identify in the field. By employing a multidisciplinary approach that combines field observations, geoarchaeology, lipid biomarker, and microbotanical analyses, this research examines the phosphatic crusts recently identified at the Middle Bronze Age (1650-1300 BCE) site of La Muraiola di Povegliano (Verona, north-eastern Italy).</div><div>The analyses uncover the processes behind phosphatic crust formation, highlighting the key role of the concentration of animal ejecta in the cementation of the deposit by nanocrystalline partially carbonated hydroxylapatite. This multi-proxy approach further demonstrates that phosphatic crusts serve as crucial archives for investigating the use of space, livestock management (e.g., free grazing/confinement, livestock species, foddering), and human-animal-environment interactions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"177 ","pages":"Article 106207"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Archaeological Science","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440325000561","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ANTHROPOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This study introduces new macroscopic and microscopic evidence for identifying archaeological animal penning areas: phosphatic crusts. Despite the importance of herding activities for reconstructing the social, economic, and ecological aspects of ancient communities, evidence for animal penning areas has traditionally relied on faint architectural traces or microscopic indicators that are often challenging to identify in the field. By employing a multidisciplinary approach that combines field observations, geoarchaeology, lipid biomarker, and microbotanical analyses, this research examines the phosphatic crusts recently identified at the Middle Bronze Age (1650-1300 BCE) site of La Muraiola di Povegliano (Verona, north-eastern Italy).
The analyses uncover the processes behind phosphatic crust formation, highlighting the key role of the concentration of animal ejecta in the cementation of the deposit by nanocrystalline partially carbonated hydroxylapatite. This multi-proxy approach further demonstrates that phosphatic crusts serve as crucial archives for investigating the use of space, livestock management (e.g., free grazing/confinement, livestock species, foddering), and human-animal-environment interactions.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Archaeological Science is aimed at archaeologists and scientists with particular interests in advancing the development and application of scientific techniques and methodologies to all areas of archaeology. This established monthly journal publishes focus articles, original research papers and major review articles, of wide archaeological significance. The journal provides an international forum for archaeologists and scientists from widely different scientific backgrounds who share a common interest in developing and applying scientific methods to inform major debates through improving the quality and reliability of scientific information derived from archaeological research.