Titre : Pollen and fungal spores as animal indicators in archaeology: some examples of animal houses in the Île-de-France region (France) 

Auteurs : Jean-Yves DUFOUR, Isabelle JOUFFROY-BAPICOT
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Revue : Archaeology, Society and Environment 

Numéro : Issue 1 

Volume : 6 

Date : 2025/01/22 

DOI : 10.21494/ISTE.OP.2025.1258 

ISSN : 2752-4507 

Résumé : When excavating areas that could be interpreted as animal homes, bio- and geoarchaeological approaches are increasingly used to support interpretation based on built structures. Palynological analysis is not necessarily the most common, as the good state of preservation of pollen grains requires conditions that are generally found in the wet and organic infilled of hollow structures. However, pollen grains, like other non-pollen microfossils such as the spores of saprophytic and/or coprophilous fungi, can be good direct or indirect indicators of the presence of animals. In recent years, several preventive archaeology projects in the Paris region have provided an opportunity to test palynological analyses on structures of various kinds, such as the floors of sheepfolds, cowsheds and hen houses. The results we obtained showed very positive contributions when the conservation conditions were suitable, namely undisturbed organic sedimentary layers that were quickly sealed after abandonment. 

Éditeur : ISTE OpenScience