The Fumier Sequences of El Mirador: An Approach to Fire as a Sociocultural Practice and Taphonomic Agent

Reconstructing formation processes at the Canary Islands indigenous site of Belmaco Cave (La Palma, Spain) through a multiproxy geoarchaeological approach

“…For the dung ash layers (MFT 3), the presence of darkened microscopic dung spherulites suggests burning temperatures of 500–700°C based on published experimental work (Canti & Nicosia, 2018). Rock magnetic studies in fumiers also suggest temperatures reaching 600–700°C in ash layers (Burguet‐Coca et al, 2022; Carrancho et al, 2012, 2016). However, the n ‐alkane profiles show a strong odd‐over‐even predominance indicating good preservation (Supporting Information: Figures and ).…”

“…n ‐Alkane biomolecular data have been used to address contemporary pastoral activity in eastern Mongolia (Égüez & Makarewicz, 2018; Égüez et al, 2022), North Africa (Égüez et al, 2018), and the Pyrenees (Pescini et al, 2023) providing a valuable reference for herd diet and taphonomic processes associated with sheep and goat dung deposits, albeit not from archaeological fumiers . Archaeo‐ and rock magnetic data from archaeological fumiers have indicated maximum burning temperatures of 400–500°C in carbonaceous facies and 600–700°C in ash layers (Burguet‐Coca et al, 2022; Carrancho et al, 2012, 2016). Controlled laboratory heating sequences have shown that plant n ‐alkanes are well preserved up to 350°C (Jambrina‐Enríquez et al, 2018; Wiesenberg et al, 2009) and there is potential for successful application of n ‐alkane biomarkers in archaeological fumier deposits.…”