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Romano-Libyan Dryland Animal Husbandry and Landscape: Pollen and Palynofacies Analyses of Coprolites from a Farm in the Wadi el-Amud, Tripolitania

2001; Elsevier BV; Volume: 28; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1006/jasc.2000.0572

1095-9238

Chris Hunt, Garry Rushworth, D. D. Gilbertson, David Mattingly,

Archaeology and ancient environmental studies

Pollen and palynofacies from sheep/goat, rodent and human coprolites of Romano-Libyan, Arab and recent age from a farmstead in the Wadi el-Amud, Tripolitania, Libya are described. There are few differences between assemblages from modern sheep/goat dung and from recent aeolian sand—both contain high percentages of desert species and significant far-travelled pollen. The Romano-Libyan and Arab samples contain high percentages of steppe taxa, suggesting significant vegetation change has occurred subsequently. Romano-Libyan sheep/goat dung samples are often dominated by single taxa, suggesting that the grazing of these animals was closely controlled or that they were stalled and fed hay, cereal waste or other crop residue. This practice seems to have contributed to the longevity of a mixed-Mediterranean agroecosystem in the predesert by preventing widespread and indiscriminate grazing and consequent landscape destabilization.