Farmers who forage: interpreting paleofecal evidence of wild resource use by early corn farmers in the North American Southwest

Coprolite research: archaeological and paleoenvironmental potentials

“…These studies highlight the application of coprolite data used for finegrained recreations of past human behavior. Several studies in this issue use coprolite data to test expectations of archaeological or ethnographic models, but coprolites can also test models of human decision-making because they record human food choice over a period of 1 to 2 days (Battillo, 2017(Battillo, , 2019Riley 2012). Coprolite studies highlight the complexity of agriculture and subsistence strategies, provide important data to better understand the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture, and contribute to broader debates about human dietary decisions and the impact of humans on their environments.…”

“…In addition, knowledge of plant processing prior to consumption can be important. For example, Battillo (2019) found very low levels of maize pollen in coprolites-despite maize macrofossils comprising 70% of total macrofossil weight-likely because corn husks with residual pollen are removed prior to consumption. The criteria for establishing intentional consumption of plant material from coprolites are followed in several papers in a special issue (Battillo 2019, Blong et al 2020McDonough 2019).…”

“…For example, Battillo (2019) found very low levels of maize pollen in coprolites-despite maize macrofossils comprising 70% of total macrofossil weight-likely because corn husks with residual pollen are removed prior to consumption. The criteria for establishing intentional consumption of plant material from coprolites are followed in several papers in a special issue (Battillo 2019, Blong et al 2020McDonough 2019). However, as Beck et al (2019) discuss, the few studies directly testing the assumptions underpinning these criteria suggest a complex relationship between pollen consumption and quantity present in human fecal samples.…”

“…In general, previous coprolite studies have demonstrated that main dietary components are typically uniform within a series of 15-20 coprolites from an archaeological context, but that additional sample analyses do reveal some dietary diversity (Reinhard 1988:40;Reinhard and Bryant 1992). Battillo (2019) analyzed 44 coprolites from a midden deposited over 130 years, adding to previous studies of 52 coprolites from the same site and period. Battillo's study found evidence for consumption of two plant taxa not previously identified as dietary items.…”

Younger Dryas and early Holocene subsistence in the northern Great Basin: multiproxy analysis of coprolites from the Paisley Caves, Oregon, USA

“…Addressing the debate about the nature of WST subsistence and land-use patterns has been hampered by the paucity of direct evidence of human diets from this period (Smith and Barker 2017). The most direct method for understanding past human dietary decisions is through the analysis of coprolites (Battillo 2019;Bryant 1974b;Callen 1963;Riley 2008Riley , 2010. Here we present a multiproxy analysis of pollen, phytolith, macrobotanical, faunal, and insect remains from nine YD/EH human coprolites recovered at the Paisley Caves in south central Oregon ( Fig.…”