Characterising life in settlements and structures: Incorporating faecal lipid biomarkers within a multiproxy case study of a wetland village
Characterising life in settlements and structures: Incorporating faecal lipid biomarkers within a multiproxy case study of a wetland village
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DOI：
10.1016/j.jas.2020.105202
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发表时间：
2020-09-01
影响因子：
2.8
通讯作者：
Henderson, Andrew C. G.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Mackay, Helen;Davies, Kimberley L.;Henderson, Andrew C. G.
圆形房屋是西北欧铁器时代景观中无处不在的特征，但它们在内部的使用方式并不为人所知。我们展示了类固醇脂质生物标志物的空间分析如何推进我们对家庭活动，生活条件和动物管理的理解与保存完好的公元前5世纪roundhouse从苏格兰的第一个铁器时代的湿地村庄，黑洛赫默顿，特别是当结合更传统的考古方法。粪便类固醇（5 β-甾烷醇和胆汁酸）在湿地圆形厂房地板沉积物中保存完好。在这些沉积物中发现了弥散性粪便输入，与集中粪便残留物的研究相比，限制了粪便来源鉴别的分辨率。然而，5 β-甾烷醇和胆汁酸的分析能够区分反刍动物（绵羊、山羊和牛）、猪和马/人粪便残留物。通过整合动物区系数据和昆虫粪便指标，我们能够确定与这些考古结构相关的动物的现场存在。类固醇指示铁器时代圆形房屋案例研究结构内的粪便沉积的短暂和/或临时脉冲，这可能很难使用其他考古学代理来确定。此外，我们的多代理结果表明，已受到定期地板清洁，这是与去除宏化石代理存款内的类固醇分子保存。对该结构内部和外部的多代理粪便特征的比较显示了使用和生活条件的时间和空间异质性。粪便的特征表明动物在建筑物的内部有临时的避难所。由类固醇决定的圆形房屋内不同活动的多用途和分工，标志着对围绕结构，功能和再利用的更广泛的考古辩论的重要贡献。
Roundhouses are ubiquitous features of Iron Age landscapes across North West Europe, yet the way they were used internally is not well understood. We demonstrate how spatial analyses of steroid lipid biomarkers advances our understanding of household activities, living conditions and animal management associated with a well-preserved 5th century BCE roundhouse from Scotland's first Iron Age wetland village, Black Loch of Myrton, especially when combined with more traditional archaeological approaches. Faecal steroids (5 beta-stanols and bile acids) are well preserved within the wetland roundhouse floor deposits. Diffuse faecal inputs are identified within these deposits, limiting the resolution of faecal source discrimination compared with studies of concentrated faecal remains. However, analysis of both 5 beta-stanols and bile acids enables discrimination between ruminant (sheep, goat and cattle), pig and horse/human faecal remains. By integrating faunal data and entomological dung indicators we are able to characterise the on-site presence of animals associated with these archaeological structures. Steroids indicate short-lived and/or temporary pulses of dung deposition within the Iron Age roundhouse case study structure, which can be very difficult to determine using other archaeological proxies. Furthermore, our multiproxy results demonstrate the molecular preservation of steroids within deposits that have been subjected to regular floor cleaning, which is associated with the removal macrofossil proxies. Comparisons of multiproxy faecal signatures of the inner and outer sections of the structure show temporal and spatial heterogeneity in usage and living conditions. The faecal signature points to temporary sheltering of animals within the inner section of the structure. The multi-use and division of different activities within the roundhouse, determined by steroids, marks an important contribution to broader archaeological debates surrounding structures, their functions and re-use.