Natalia Gryczewska, Marcin Sulwiński, Piotr Chibowski, Maciej T. Krajcarz, Marcin Zegarek, Małgorzata Kot, Andrea Pereswiet-Soltan, Karol Szymczak, Małgorzata Suska-Malawska
{"title":"Applying sterols and bile acids as biomarkers for identifying human versus wild animals' faecal traces in cave sediments at archaeological sites","authors":"Natalia Gryczewska, Marcin Sulwiński, Piotr Chibowski, Maciej T. Krajcarz, Marcin Zegarek, Małgorzata Kot, Andrea Pereswiet-Soltan, Karol Szymczak, Małgorzata Suska-Malawska","doi":"10.1111/arcm.13067","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Faecal biomarkers are used to trace and identify the source of faecal matter at various types of archaeological sites. Until now, the focus has been centred on humans and domesticated animals. However, in caves, it's wild animals that play a role in the deposition of organic matter. To assess the participation of animals and humans at such sites through molecular markers it is crucial to recognize their biomolecular signature. We developed a database of faecal profiles of 14 species of modern wildlife animals and assessed common ratios for recognizing the source of faecal matter. We proposed an improved framework and applied it to a set of test samples from cave sites. Our research shows that faecal biomarker analysis in caves is indeed feasible.</p>","PeriodicalId":8254,"journal":{"name":"Archaeometry","volume":"67 4","pages":"1022-1039"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/arcm.13067","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Archaeometry","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/arcm.13067","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"ARCHAEOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Faecal biomarkers are used to trace and identify the source of faecal matter at various types of archaeological sites. Until now, the focus has been centred on humans and domesticated animals. However, in caves, it's wild animals that play a role in the deposition of organic matter. To assess the participation of animals and humans at such sites through molecular markers it is crucial to recognize their biomolecular signature. We developed a database of faecal profiles of 14 species of modern wildlife animals and assessed common ratios for recognizing the source of faecal matter. We proposed an improved framework and applied it to a set of test samples from cave sites. Our research shows that faecal biomarker analysis in caves is indeed feasible.
期刊介绍:
Archaeometry is an international research journal covering the application of the physical and biological sciences to archaeology, anthropology and art history. Topics covered include dating methods, artifact studies, mathematical methods, remote sensing techniques, conservation science, environmental reconstruction, biological anthropology and archaeological theory. Papers are expected to have a clear archaeological, anthropological or art historical context, be of the highest scientific standards, and to present data of international relevance.
The journal is published on behalf of the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, Oxford University, in association with Gesellschaft für Naturwissenschaftliche Archäologie, ARCHAEOMETRIE, the Society for Archaeological Sciences (SAS), and Associazione Italian di Archeometria.