Reconstructing Meat Consumption through Biomarker Analyses of Paleofeces

Abstract

This mini-review outlines three underutilized approaches for studying meat-based biomarkers in archaeological paleofeces that we expect will increase in significance within the field. Myoglobin, stable isotope, and aDNA analyses all have untapped potential to inform meat-based dietary constituents.

Sequential biomolecular, macrofossil, and microfossil extraction from coprolites for reconstructing past behavior and environments

“…Traditional coprolite studies have focused on identifying plant and animal macrofossils and microfossils recovered from coprolites [see reviews in Bryant and Reinhard (2012) and Shillito et al (2020a)]. Recent research has also shown the utility of biomolecular methods (e.g., lipids, aDNA) for providing important additional information in multi-proxy studies of human diet and paleoenvironments (Lin and Connor, 2001;Shillito et al, 2011;Sistiaga et al, 2014;Battillo and Fisher, 2015). Biomolecular methods have an added advantage of providing an unequivocal species identification, which is especially important in cases where coprolite morphology is ambiguous.…”

Coprolite research: archaeological and paleoenvironmental potentials

“…Perhaps the most important takeaway of the Reinhard et al paper is the conclusion that the condition of microremains observed in SEM provide insight into the overall organic preservation in coprolites that can be used to assess whether the sample should be prioritized for biomolecular analysis. These results are particularly useful with the move towards increasing biomolecular analytical techniques (e.g., aDNA) (Battillo and Fisher 2015;Borry et al 2020;Shillito et al 2020a). These methods have limited utility in some coprolites, hypothesized to be the results of taphonomic processes that result in poor aDNA preservation.…”