Paleofeces

Paleofeces (or palaeofaeces in British English) are ancient human feces, often found as part of archaeological excavations or surveys.

Intact feces of ancient people may be found in caves in arid climates and in other locations with suitable preservation conditions.

They are studied to determine the diet and health of the people who produced them through the analysis of seeds, small bones, and parasite eggs found inside.

Today coprolite analysis in archaeology has increased, and they have provided important evidence concerning the evolution of human health and diet, in the Americas and other parts of the world.

[5] One of the most famous examples is the coprolite from Paisley Caves, Oregon, which has provided some of the earliest evidence for the human occupation of North America.

An example of researchers using paleofeces for the gathering of information using DNA analysis occurred at Hinds Cave in Texas by Hendrik Poinar and his team.

Along with plant material, there were also DNA sequences of animal species such as bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, and cottontail rabbit.

This was initially thought to be from dog on the basis of digested bone, however an analysis of the lipid profiles showed that many of the coprolites were actually from humans.

For example, the identification of fish tapeworm eggs in Acre in the Crusader period indicate that this parasite was transported from northern Europe.