How animal dung can help to reconstruct past forest use: a late Neolithic case study from the Mooswinkel pile dwelling (Austria)

Abstract

Animal dung analyses are a useful tool for vegetational studies. Preserved ruminant dung from archaeological layers offers a unique possibility for the reconstruction of past fodder management strategies, and further for studying the impact of fodder acquisition and pasturing on forests. In this case study we investigate the impact of Late Neolithic livestock keeping on the forest around the “Mooswinkel” pile dwelling at the Austrian lake Mondsee through the analysis of botanical macroremains, insect remains as well as microhistological analyses of botanical remains in animal dung. Seasonal plant parts in the dung point out that cattle, goats, and/or sheep were evidently kept inside the settlement during the winter for protection. During the daytime, they were allowed to forage around the settlement. Winter fodder consisted of dried leaf hay, hay from grasses and herbs, male flowers of early blooming bushes, and fresh twigs of evergreen species, such as fir (Abies alba), ivy (Hedera helix), and mistletoe (Viscum album).