Dung matters: An experimental study into the effectiveness of using dung from hay-fed livestock to reconstruct local vegetation

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between standing vegetation and dung from hay-fed cattle and sheep. In an experimental study, hay is retrieved from a known hay field, surrounded by a semi-open landscape of hedgerows, forests and heather fields. The hay is fed to cattle and sheep, after which the dung is collected and from which the botanical remains are analysed, according to archaeobotanical standards. The results from the macro-remains are compared to vegetation relevés from the hay field. The pollen analysis is compared to both the hay field and the surrounding vegetation. Results from the plant macro remains provide an excellent representation of the vegetation in the field itself on the presence/absence level. Pollen analysis reflects the regional vegetation very well and are comparable with ‘surface samples’.

Keywords:

• Dung
• Vegetation reconstruction
• Palynology
• Hay field
• Macro remains
• Experimental study

Acknowledgements

Wilbert Pellikaan from Wageningen University kindly helped during the feeding and dung collection stage of this study. Mark van Waijjen performed the pollen analysis. Copy editors Suzanne Needs-Howarth and Annette Hansen provided valuable comments on the English text. Otto Brinkkemper and an anonymous reviewer significantly improved this paper. Henk Nijboer and Marjan Schepers provided a valuable hide-out to process the reviewers’ comments. We would like to thank the editorial office of Environmental Archaeology for allowing us to submit a revised version of this paper.