The Use of Dung as Fuel : an Ethnographic Example and an Archaeological Application

Abstract

Modern plant use and garbage disposal practices in an Iranian village were observed in order to provide a framework for the interpretation of plant remains from ancient Malyan, a third millennium B.C. urban center in southern Iran. The ethnoarchaeological model suggested that many carbonized seeds originate in dung cake fuel. By applying this proposition to the archaeobotanical material from Malyan, it was possible to corroborate the evidence provided by the independent charcoal analysis for progressive deforestation during the third millennium.

Ecotopes and Herd Foraging Practices In the Steppe/Mountain Ecotone of Central Asia During the Bronze and Iron Ages

“…However, we suspect that there is more distortion here than would exist without the mastication and digestion processes acting on the seeds. This same argument was made by Miller (1984Miller ( , 1990 for similar sites in southwest Asia and later supported by Klinge and Fall (2010). The argument for post-digestion is strengthened by looking at the properties of the preserved seeds.…”

Agricultural production in the Central Asian mountains: Tuzusai, Kazakhstan (410–150b.c.)

“…Seeds (especially wild herbaceous seeds) found in macrobotanical assemblages may be the result of dung burning (Miller 1984(Miller , 1989(Miller , 1990(Miller , 1996Miller and Gleason 1994;Miller and Smart 1984;Moore et al 1994). In wood-scarce areas animal dung is a good fuel, both for cooking and heating.…”

The Beginnings of Agriculture: The Ancient Near East and North Africa

“…A mineralized cess deposit from the third millennium B. C. city of Malyan, however, produced dozens of grape seeds and incompletely digested seeds of wheat and barley (Miller 1984). Most plant remains found are charred, however, so they do not directly represent food remains.…”