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Multi-proxy analysis of waterlogged preserved Late Neolithic canine excrements

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Abstract

Multi-proxy analysis of the coprolites which were found during excavations at two Late Neolithic (fourth millennium bc) pile-dwelling sites (Črnelnik and Stare gmajne) in Slovenia yielded some new insights into human–dog relations and behaviour. The digested content is presented in a multidisciplinary approach, in which palynological, palaeoparasitological, archaeobotanical and archaeozoological features are studied and genetic signs are tested. Beside the origin of the coprolites, the size of an animal and the diet, the faeces provided some additional information, such as health, status, nutrition habits, environment and season.

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Acknowledgements

The project is financed by the Slovenian Research Agency (SRA; Funding Nos. J7-2598; P6-0064 (B); J7-6857 and Young Research Program of the SRA). Many thanks to technical assistant Dragotin Valoh for preparing figures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Archaeology, ZRC SAZU, Novi trg 2, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Tjaša Tolar, Nina Caf, Borut Toškan, Lars Zver & Anton Velušček

  2. Austrian Archaeological Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Franz Klein-Gasse 1, 1190, Vienna, Austria

    Alfred Galik

  3. Chrono-Environment Laboratory, University of Bourgogne Franche-Comte, 16 route de Gray, 25030, Besançon Cedex, France

    Matthieu Le Bailly & Benjamin Dufour

  4. Faculty of Mathematics, Science and Information Technology, University of Primorska, Glagoljaška ulica 8, 6000, Koper, Slovenia

    Elena Bužan

  5. Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of Maribor, Koroška cesta 160, 2000, Maribor, Slovenia

    Franc Janžekovič

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  1. Tjaša Tolar
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  2. Alfred Galik
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  3. Matthieu Le Bailly
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  10. Anton Velušček
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Correspondence to Tjaša Tolar.

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Tolar, T., Galik, A., Le Bailly, M. et al. Multi-proxy analysis of waterlogged preserved Late Neolithic canine excrements. Veget Hist Archaeobot 30, 107–118 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-020-00805-y

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