Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 9 (2016) 375–385

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Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

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Micro-archaeological indicators for identifying ancient cess deposits:An example from Late Bronze Age Megiddo, Israel

Dafna Langgut a,⁎, Ruth Shahack-Gross b, Eran Arie c, Dvora Namdar d, Alon Amrani d,Matthieu Le Bailly e, Israel Finkelstein a

a The Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University, P.O. Box 39040, Tel Aviv 69978, Israelb Department of Maritime Civilizations, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israelc The Israel Museum, Derech Ruppin 11, Jerusalem 9171002, Israeld Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University, Edmond J. Safra Campus, Givat Ram, 91904 Jerusalem, Israele University of Bourgogne Franche-Comte, CNRS UMR 6249 Chrono-environment, 16 route de Gray, 25000 Besancon, France

⁎ Corresponding author.E-mail address: langgut@post.tau.ac.il (D. Langgut).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.08.0132352-409X/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

a b s t r a c t

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article history:Received 2 May 2016Received in revised form 21 July 2016Accepted 14 August 2016Available online xxxx

Several micro-archaeological methods are suggested in this study in order to identify cess deposits. Thesemethods were deployed at a Near Eastern mound (Megiddo, Israel), yet are applicable to any archaeologicalsite anywhere in the world. The study presented here, was performed on a 2–3 mm thick yellowish fibrous ma-terial, ca. 40 × 15 cm in size, which was discovered in Area H at Tel Megiddo in relation to a well-built structuredating to the Late Bronze Age IIA (mid-14th century BCE). Area H is located near the remains of a large LateBronze Age palace, which had been excavated in the early 20th century. In order to reveal the nature of the yel-lowish fibrousmaterial we carried out infrared spectroscopy, petrographicmicroscopy and lipid analyses. The re-sults led us to suggest that this substance is related to fecal matter. We therefore analyzed it for pollen andgastrointestinal parasite remains. While the latter were for the most part absent, the palynological investigationprovided information about dietary components that are usually under-represented in the reconstruction of veg-etative diets, especially beverages and possible use ofmedicinal plants, consumed by theMegiddo residents, whomay had some link to the palace. The paper demonstrates how diverse micro-archaeological analyses comple-ment each other, and when applied in concert yield novel information about the past.

© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:CesspitCess depositsPhosphatizationPollenManure biomarkersLate BronzeMegiddo

1. Introduction

On the final day of excavations of the 2012 season at Tel Megiddo(northern Israel, Fig. 1) a yellowish fibrous feature was detected. This2–3 mm thick feature, ca. 40 × 15 cm in size (Fig. 2), was associatedwith a well-built structure in Level H-14, which dates, based on ceramicfinds, to the Late Bronze Age IIA in the 14th century BCE (for radiocar-bon dating, see Boaretto, forthcoming). Area H is located in the north-western sector of the site (Fig. 3), near the Late Bronze Age palaceunearthed in the course of the University of Chicago excavations inthe 1930s (Area AA, Fig. 4; Loud, 1948), and in proximity to the gateof the city (Fig. 3). Level H-14 is contemporaneous with the Amarna ar-chives – the diplomatic correspondence of Pharaohs Amenophis III andAmenophis IV (Akhenaten) with Near Eastern kingdoms and Canaanitepetty-kings, written in Akkadian cuneiform and found in Egypt in thelate 19th century CE. Among the ca. 370 tablets, there are six thatwere sent by Biridiya, the ruler of Megiddo, presumably one of the in-habitants of the Megiddo palace.

The fragile-looking yellowish fibrous feature was removed fromLevel H-14 for further analysis. It was extracted as a block of sediment,ca. 30 cm thick, covered by plaster of Paris (gypsum) to keep it intact.Attempts to reveal the nature of the find with the naked eye failed.We therefore turned to several micro-archaeological investigations: in-frared spectroscopy, petrographic microscopy and lipid analyses. Theresults led us to suspect that it was related to cess deposits. Based onthis hypothesis, we further analyzed the yellowish fibrous material forpollen and gastrointestinal parasite remains.

Below we aim to: (i) present the steps taken in our investigation ofthe yellowish fibrous material that led us to identify it as part of a cess-pit; (ii) definemicro-archaeological indicators that can be used to iden-tify cess deposits; (iii) shed additional light on the Late Bronze Agepalatial area of Megiddo and some dietary components of its residents.

2. The find and its stratigraphic context

The yellowish fibrous feature was found in Square E/7 in elevation155.50 asl (Figs. 5 and 6). Above it excavation revealed an accumulationof dark brown mudbrick debris, ca. 75 cm thick (elevation ca. 156.25–155.50 asl), containing white nodules. In the lower part of this debris,

Fig. 1.Map showing the location of Tel Megiddo.

Fig. 3.Aerial photo of Area H and its vicinity. Note gate of the Late Bronze Age city (bottomwrite) and the location of Late Bronze Age palace (the remains of the palace had beenremoved in the 1930s, seen in this picture are remains of fortifications dating to theMiddle Bronze Age).

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below elevation 155.85 asl a large number of medium-sized (ca. 30 cmin diameter) stones with no well-defined architectural remains wasencountered.

The fibrous featurewas found encircled by someof these stones (Fig.2), indicating that it was located within a round installation or in astone-lined pit (elevation 155.55–155.21), only the bottom of whichwas preserved. The color and texture of the sediments within and out-side the assumed pit were similar. In the immediate vicinity of thefind many small (ca. 10 cm in diameter) limestone pebbles covered by

Fig. 2.Theunfamiliar yellowishfibrous featureuncovered inAreaH, encircledbymedium-sized stones, looking northeast. Thematerial was found in the lowermost part of locus 12/H/75 at an elevation of 155.52 asl.

a hard brown crust were uncovered; some of them were collected andkept for analysis (Fig. 7).

Locus 12/H/75 was sealed by two walls and a floor of Level H-13(bottom level in elevation 156.30 asl), which is well-dated by ceramicfinds and radiocarbon samples (for the latter, see Boaretto,forthcoming) to the Late Bronze Age IIB, in the 13th century BCE. Forreasons of safety, Square E/7was not excavated during the 2014 season,yet excavations continued in the adjacent Square E/8 (Fig. 5), resultingin the exposure of Room 14/H/12, which belonged to Level H-14. Thestone pavement of this room (elevation ca. 155.70–155.80 asl) is relatedto two rows of stones located in the northern section of Square E/7(seen in the aerial view – Fig. 5); the latter may be interpreted as be-longing the southern wall of Room 14/H/12 (Fig. 6). Hence, we suggestthat “installation” 12/H/75 belongs to Level H-14, associated with LateBronze IIA pottery and dated to the 14th century BCE.

Area H is a sectional trench two squares (10m)wide – too narrow todetermine the exact layout of the remains. Still, from the solid walls inneighboring squares it seems that Installation is located in a well-builtstructure (see, e.g., Square E/9 in Fig. 5) rather than in an open area.The elaborate architecture, prestigious finds and better quality nutritionexpressed in the faunal remains all indicate that this part of the site wasinhabited by an elite group that was probably associated with the adja-cent palace (Area AA, Fig. 4; Arie, 2013, forthcoming; Sapir-Hen et al.,2016).

Fig. 4. University of Chicago's Area AA, Stratum VIII, in relation to Tel Aviv University's Area H Stratum H14-H13, excavated in 2012.Surveyed and prepared by Adam B. Prins.

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3. Materials and methods

3.1. Mineralogical identification and microscopy

The yellowish fibrous material was sampled in three locations, andfour samples from the brown-colored crusts found on the limestonepebbles that surrounded it were collected aswell. Infrared spectroscop-ic analyses were conducted using the KBr method (see details inWeiner, 2010) and Nicolet 380 FT-IR spectrometer (Thermo Scientific).Spectra were interpreted using the reference library of the Kimmel Cen-ter for Archaeological Science, Weizmann Institute of Science. In addi-tion, a 1 × 2 cm fragment of the yellowish fibrous material wasimpregnated with polyester resin, prepared as a 30 μm thin sectionspecimen for microscopy, and studied using a Nikon Eclipse 50i polar-ized light microscope.

3.2. Lipid analysis

Four samples were subjected to lipid residue analysis: twowere col-lected from the yellowish fibrous material, one from the gray sedimentbelow this layer (to serve as control) and the last from a brown crustfrom one of the stones that encircled the yellowishmaterial. The extrac-tion and analysis procedures of the lipids followed Evershed et al.(1990) and Charters et al. (1993). Samples of about 20mgwere collect-ed using a clean scalpel blade and ground manually to a homogenizedpowder in a porcelain pestle and mortar. A blank sample was run rou-tinely with the samples to monitor any possible laboratory contamina-tion. The samples were first sonicated with 2 mL of dichloromethaneand methanol (2:1, v/v), and sonicated for 10 min. Following, the sam-ples were centrifuged to separate the ground powder from the solvents.The solvents were decanted to a clean glass vial and then evaporated todryness. 100 μl of N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide containing1% trimethylchlorosilane (TMCS) was added to the dry extracts follow-ed by heating at 70 °C for 20 min. One microliter of each sample was

injected into the gas chromatograph (GC) with mass selective detector(MSD). GC/MS analyses were carried out using a HP7890 gas chromato-graph coupled to a HP5973 mass spectrometer (electron multiplier po-tential 2 KV, filament current 0.35 mA, electron energy 70 eV, and thespectra were recorded over the range m/z 40 to 800). Helium wasused as a carrier gas at a constant flow of 1.1 mL s−1. The inlet washeated to 220 °C and the sample was injected in a split of 1:10. An iso-thermal hold at 50 °Cwas kept for 2min, followed by a heating gradientof 10 °C min−1 to 320 °C, with the final temperature held for 10 min. A30 m, 0.25 mm HP-5MS with a 0.25 μm film thickness was used for sep-aration. The MS interface temperature was 300 °C. The results were cali-brated against known amounts of the internal standard (1-nonadecanol,C19Ol) added to each sample. Peak assignments were carried out withthe aid of library spectra (NIST 1.6) and compared with published data.

3.3. Palynology

Seven samples were collected for the palynological investigation:Sample 1 is from the yellowish fibrous material. Sample 2 is from thebrown crust that was recovered from one of the limestone pebbles.Samples 3 and 4 were collected from the gray sediment 1 cm and5 cmbelow the yellowish fibrous feature, respectively. A control sample(no. 5) which represents the recent “pollen rain” was collected in De-cember 2014 from surface sediments, 20 m west of Area H. Samples 6and 7 were collected from the dark brown sediment characteristic ofLocus 12/H/75, at the level of the installation but ca. 2 m away from it.Sampling strategies and techniques followed the recommendations ofBryant (1974a, 1974b).

Each sample went through surface cleaning to remove any possibil-ity of modern pollen contamination. Pollen extraction followed a chem-ical preparation procedure (Faegri and Iversen, 1989). One standardLycopodium spore tablet was added to each sample (batch number1031) in order to calculate pollen concentrations (Stockmarr, 1971).Pollen grains were identified under a light microscope, with

Fig. 5. Aerial view of Area H at the end of the 2012 excavation season, showingarchitectural remains of Levels H-14 (lower) and H-13. Note massiveness of thestructures – associated with the nearby palace. The installation discussed in this articleis marked by red circle. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figurelegend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Fig. 7. A limestone pebble covered by a hard brown crust, collected from the pit. (Forinterpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred tothe web version of this article.)

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magnifications of 200×, 400× and 1000× (oil immersion). In each sam-ple, all the extracted pollen grains were counted and identified. Pollengrainswere identified to the lowest possible systematic level. For pollenidentification, a comparative reference collection of the Israeli pollenflora of Tel Aviv University (Steinhardt Museum of Natural History)

Fig. 6. Square E/7 (looking north); (a) southern remains of Pavement 14/H/12; (b) Wall14/H/28; (c) pit dug to remove block of sediment with the yellowish fibrous material.

was used, in addition to pollen atlases (e.g., Beug, 2004; Reille, 1995,1998, 1999).

3.4. Paleoparasitology

Paleoparasitological investigations were carried out on four samplesfrom the yellowish fibrous material and from the brown crust (Locus12/H/75). These analyses aimed at retrieving eggs of gastrointestinalhelminths parasitizing humans or animals. Samples were prepared fol-lowing the standard extraction protocol as detailed in Dufour and LeBailly (2013). Five gram sub-samples were rehydrated during oneweek in a mix solution of 0.5% trisodic phosphate (TSP) and 5% glycer-inated water. The suspensions were placed in an ultrasonic bath devicefor 1 min and passed through columns composed of sieves with differ-ent meshes (315 μm, 160 μm, 50 μm and 25 μm). As average helminthegg size is between 30 and 160 μm long and 15 and 100 μm wide, thelast two sieve residues were observed. Twenty slides from each pre-pared sample were analyzed using light microscopy (Olympus BX-51).

4. Results

4.1. Mineralogical identification and microscopy

All samples studied using infrared spectroscopy are composed of thesameminerals, characterized by presence of high amounts of carbonat-ed hydroxylapatite, associated with clay, calcite and quartz. These min-erals are common at Tel Megiddo (c.f., Regev et al., 2015). In thinsection, structures typical of vegetal tissue were observed, associatedwith a phosphatized groundmass (Fig. 8).

4.2. Lipid analysis

Three out of the four samples that were subjected to residue analysisyielded extractable organic compounds in relatively high amounts(Table 1, sample nos. 1–3). The gray sediment below the yellowish fi-brous feature (which served as a control) yielded no lipids but squalene,a contaminant possibly deriving from initially handling the sample inthe field with bare hands (Table 1, Sample 4). The chemical composi-tions of the three positive extracts, two from the yellowish fibrous ma-terial and one from the crust on a nearby stone, are not similar; still, thegeneral observation points to the presence of nitrogen- and sulfur-richcompounds (thiols). Cholesterol was detected in all three samples. Intwo extracts coprostanol was found and in one sample it was accompa-nied by squalene – a human/animal related compound (Fig. 9). Twosamples also had n-alcohols containing 14, 16, 18 and 24 carbons intheir chains as well as branched fatty acids (C16:1 and C18:1), as well aspalmitic and stearic acids. Note that the preference of palmitic acid

Fig. 8. Photomicrographs showing: (a) plant cellular structures within the yellowishfibrous material (Plane Polarized Light; width of frame is 7.2 mm); (b) close-up on thearea marked by a rectangle in (a), of the cellular structure associated with a pollen grain(arrow; Plane Polarized Light; width of frame is 1.44 mm); (c) magnification of anotherpart of a cellular structure (Plane Polarized Light; scale bar 100 μm). (For interpretationof the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web versionof this article.)

Table 1Total lipid extracts of the studied samples from the “installation”.

Sample description Lipid analysis Total organiccompound(mg/g)

YFM (Sample 1) Benzothiazole, phospholipid, C14ol,C16ol, C16:0, C18:0, coprostanol,squalene, cholesterol

38

YFM (Sample 2) Tributylbenzenethiol, C16:1, C16:0,C18ol, C18:1, C18:0, C24ol, cholesterol

30

Brown crust (Sample no. 3) Benzothiazole, tributylbenzenthiol,C14ol, C16ol, C16:1, C16:0, C18:0, diacid,coprostanol, n-alkanes, ergostanol,lanosterol, cholesterol

72

Gray sediment below theyellowish fibrous feature(Sample no. 4)

n/a n/a

Cx:y, a fatty acid with x carbons chain and y degree of unsaturation, all in theirtrimethylsilylated form; Cxol, alcohol with x carbons chain; n-Cxi, normal alkane with xcarbons chain. All compounds were identified in their silylated form (see “Materials andmethods” section).

1 Anemophilous (wind pollinated) and zoophilous (animal pollinated) plants contrib-utemost of thepollen found in bothmodern and fossil deposits. Anemophilousplants pro-duce great quantities of pollen and disperse it in the wind. Zoophilous plants, by contrast,produce small amounts of pollen andmust rely upon insects, birds, or other animals to dis-perse their pollen. It is these significant differences that account for the disproportionatelyhigh percentages of anemophilous pollen found in most modern and fossil pollen spectra(e.g., Faegri and Iversen, 1989).

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over stearic acid (C16:0 ≫ C18:0) is usually attributed to a vegetal ratherthan an animal source (Baeten et al., 2013), a notion thatworth revision.The brown crust sampled froma limestonepebble foundnext to the yel-lowish fibrous feature contained phosphate enriched compounds, ste-rols and stanols (i.e., coprostanol, ergostanol, lanosterol andcholesterol) aswell as diacid and fatty acids alongwith n-alkanes. Betterpreservation of the organic compounds was detected when it wasbound to the carbonatemineral in the pebble thanwhen it was extract-ed from loose sediment.

4.3. Palynology

Samples 6 and 7 were almost pollen barren; only two degraded pol-len grainswere identified in Sample 6: a grain of Atriplex type (saltbush)and a grain of Cedrus libani (cedar of Lebanon). The poor state of pollenpreservation in these two control samples is not surprising since similarresults characterizemany other pollen samples fromMegiddo analyzedby one of us (DL). Pollen ratios of the other five samples are presented inTable 2. The total number of pollen grains counted in each sample andthe pollen concentrations are given at the bottom of the column. Dueto the relatively high frequencies of pollen of edible/potable plants(mainly zoophilous plants), we arranged the results in two groups: pol-len that can be linked with high probability to purposeful ingestion ofcertain plant foods/drinks, and pollen that is linked with high probabil-ity to the natural environment (mainly anemophilous plants).1 The lat-ter group may reflect local and regional pollen rain which wasaccidentally ingested or trapped within the investigated material(more below).

As expected, the modern control sample has the highest pollen con-centration (Sample 5: 2405 grains/gram sediment). About 95% of theidentified grains belong to the group of pollen of the natural environ-ment while only ca. 5% derive from the group of plants that can beeaten or drunk. The archaeological samples contain lower concentra-tions of pollen (164–682 grains/gram sediment; n = 4), most probablyrelated to poorer state of pollen preservation as can be gleaned from therelatively high ratios of the unrecognized grains in the archaeologicalsamples vs. the lower ratios in the modern control sample (Table 2).Samples 1 and 2, from the yellowish fibrous material and the browncrust are mainly composed of taxa that belong to the edible/potableplants group (60% and 75% respectively). In Samples 3 and 4, the ratiosbetween the digested pollen and the pollenwhich derived from the nat-ural environment are close to equal. All four archaeological samples aresignificantly enriched in zoophilous pollen relative to Sample 5 (themodern control sample).

Fig. 9. Gas chromatogram of the lipid extrication from sample no. 3. All compounds are in their trimethyl silylated form; i.s. – internal standard (1-nonadecanol).

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4.4. Paleoparasitology

After the conventional microscopic observations, only one elementwas recovered, probably corresponding to a poorly preserved egg ofwhipworm (genus Trichuris; Fig. 10).

5. Discussion

5.1. Identification of the feature as a cesspit

The data presented above is based on variousmethods of materialidentification and characterization. Macro remains such as hair,bones and teeth were absent from the yellowish fibrous material.The petrographic microscopy enabled the first identification of thethis material as deriving from plant origin, while infrared spectros-copy revealed that plant cellular structures were preserved due tophosphatization.

The phosphate mineral carbonated hydroxylapatite is known tooriginate in nature as (1) themineral of which vertebrate skeletalmate-rial is composed, including bones and teeth (Lowenstam and Weiner,1989), and (2) as the product of organic matter degradation, wherephosphate-rich organic compounds degrade and release phosphateinto the soil solution that binds to calcium ions if they are present inthe environment (Shahack-Gross et al., 2004 and references therein).Fecal material, especially that produced by carnivores whose diet isrich in proteins, is known to be rich in phosphate (see for instanceTable 8.2 inWeiner, 2010). Because themicroscopic analysis did not re-veal presence of skeletal material (bones, teeth), the inevitable conclu-sion is that the yellowish fibrous material studied here is related todegraded fecal material.

Studies of archaeological latrine/cess deposits report that botanicmaterial may be preserved in them through the mechanism of phos-phate replacement, i.e., phosphate-rich solutions penetrate into plantmaterial and the deposited mineral replaces the organic componentsin a manner that preserves the microscopic cellular structure of thebotanic material (e.g., Green, 1979; Marshall et al., 2008; McCobb etal., 2001, 2003). The exact mineralogical composition of the phosphatecompounds is not always easy to determine, but most studies report acomposition that is very close to carbonated hydroxylapatite. This

information indicates that the yellowish fibrous material, composed ofphosphatized vegetal matter, may have originated from cess deposits.

The results from the lipid analysis show the presence of sterols andstanols, organic compounds that may be related to fecal material.These compounds were not detected in the control sample; moreoverthe amount of these compounds in the different extracts (around30 mg total lipids per 1 gram sediment and about 70 mg total lipidsper 1 gram crust) is far too high to be the result of contamination(≫5 μg/g). Sterols are synthesized in most animals, plants, and yeastand occur widely in living organisms as lipid constituents. Cholesterolis a compound characteristic of mammals (Gunstone, 2004; Kanazawaand Teshima, 1978). A certain amount of cholesterol is excreted intofeces after undergoing reduction of the double bond to coprostanol byintestinal microorganisms (Rosenfeld and Gallagher, 1964; Rosenfeldet al., 1954). Coprostanol, a stanol formed from the bio-hydrogenationof cholesterol in the gut of higher animals has long been used as a bio-marker for the presence of human/animal fecal matter (Bethell, 1994;D'Anjou et al., 2012; Sistiaga et al., 2014). In anaerobic sediments andsoils, coprostanol is stable for long periods of time, enabling it to beused as an indicator of past fecal remains (Mudge and Ball, 2006). Inboth extracts of the installation samples coprostanol and cholesterolwere detected in relatively equal amounts. The presence of coprostanolin two samples, along with cholesterol relates our finds to the presenceof fecal remains (Bethell, 1994). Other sterols and stanolswere recordedin the extracts, such as ergosterol and lanosterol. Ergosterol (ergosta-7,7,22-trien-3β-ol) is a sterol found in the cell membrane of fungi andprotozoa (Dupont et al., 2012). Lanosterol is a triterpenoid and is thecompound from which all animal and fungi steroids are derived(Clouse, 2002; Engelking, 2014). By contrast, plant steroids are pro-duced via cycloartenol (Schaller, 2003). Demethylation of lanosteroleventually yields cholesterol. Lanosterol is formed first by the epoxida-tion of the double bond of squalene, which was also found in the ex-tracts of the installation samples. Relatively high amounts ofphosphate and nitrogen enriched molecules have been detected in theextracts, among them thiols that appear in nature although they are rel-atively rare (Le Bozec and Moody, 2009). Overall, the lipid analysispoints to amixed result thatmay suggest the presence of human/animalfecal remains together with plant-originated residues.

Taken together, the mineralogical, microscopic and lipid residueanalyses support and amplify each other, strongly suggesting that the

Table 2Pollen results of Locus 12/H/75.

Plants type Sample no. 1 2 3 4 5

Taxon/description Yellowishmaterial (%)

Browncrust (%)

1 cm below the yellowishmaterial (%)

5 cm below the yellowishmaterial (%)

Recent sediment - controlsample (%)

Possibleedible/drinkableplantsa

Mentha type (mint) 8.0 10.0 2.5 3.8 –Salvia type (sage) – – 0.6 – –Ficus carica (common fig) 16.0 – – – –Myrtus communis (truemyrtle)

8.0 – 1.2 – –

Gundelia tournefortii(tumbleweed)

4.0 – 0.0 – –

Cereal type 16.0 10.0 25.8 22.1 1.3Apiaceae (carrot family) 8.0 – 13.5 21.2 1.3Vitis vinifera (grape) – – 1.2 1.9 –Papaver – – – 1.0 –Achillea/Matricaria type(chamomile)

– – 5.5 – –

Urticaceae (nettle family) – 20.0 – – –Olea europaea (olive) – 35.0 3.7 1.9 2.5Total edible/potable 60.0 75.0 54.0 51.9 5.1

Plants of naturalenvironments

Quercus calliprinos type(evergreen oak)

– – 0.6 – –

Quercus ithaburensis type(deciduous oak)

– – – – 0.3

Pinus (pine) – – 0.6 1.9 29.7Cupressaceae (cypress) – – 3.1 – –Eucalyptus – – – – 2.2Poaceae (grasses) 8.0 – 2.5 1.0 0.0Sarcopoterium spinosum(thorny burnet)

4.0 – – – 0.6

Asteraceae Asteroideae(aster-like)

8.0 – 9.8 16.3 8.9

Asteraceae Cichorioideae(dandelion-like)

12.0 – 1.2 – 1.6

Carthamus (distaff thistles) – – 6.7 – –Xanthium (cocklebur) – – 4.9 1.9 1.3Echinops (globe thistles) – – – – 0.3Centaurea cyanus type(cornflower)

– – – 1.0 –

Artemisia (wormwood) – 5.0 – 1.9 –Brassicaceae (cabbage family) – – 3.7 6.7 45.9Atriplex type (saltbush) – 10.0 1.8 – 2.8Polygonaceae (knotweedfamily)

– – 0.6 1.0 –

Scabiosa (scabious) – – 3.7 1.9 –Knautia (widow flower) – – 3.7 1.0 0.6Caryophyllaceae (pink family) 8.0 10.0 – – –Ephedra (Mormon tea) – – 0.6 2.9 0.6Bellevalia type – – 0.6 3.8 0.0Crocus (croci) – – 0.6 – –Cyperaceae (sedges) – – 0.6 – –Rannunculaceae (crowfootfamily)

– – 0.6 3.8 –

Valerianaceae (valerianfamily)

– – – 2.9 –

Total non-edible 40.0 25.0 46.0 48.1 94.9Unrecognizable (A.N.)b 14 4 9 9 3Unidentified (A.N.) 1 – – – –Total counted (A.N.) 41 24 172 113 319Unidentified pollen clump(A.N.)

1 – – – –

Spores (A.N.) – – 1 5 62Lycopodium (A.N.) 1806 1761 1303 947 399Weight (g) 0.30 0.75 2.55 2.0 3.5Pollen concentrations values(g/sediment)

681 164 466 537 2056

Samples 6 and 7 donot appear in the table since theywere almost pollen barren. The division into food/drink (=digested pollen) vs. natural environment plants is not clear-cut since sometaxa from the natural environment group may include both edible and non-edible plants such as Asteraceae, Brassicaceae and Caryophyllaceae. Within these families it is impossible topalynologically distinguish to the genus/species levels. However, some of the pollen taxa suggested as edible plants could also have derived from the nearby surroundings (for instance,Olea europaea, Apiaceac, Urticaceac and cereal pollen type). Yetmost of the group of the edible/potable plants is composed of zoophilous (animal pollinated), characterized by low pollendispersal efficiency and thereforemuch lower levels of contamination, while the group of the natural plants of the near vicinity is composed of pollen of both zoophilous plants andwindpollinated (anemophilous) taxa. In regard to Samples 1 and 2, some of the pollen grains which belong to the group of the natural environment plants could also be considered as edibleplants (e.g., wormwood, saltbush, member of the pink family). Only the pollen of Sarcopoterium spinosum (thorny burnet) and Poaceae (grasses) are suggested to be of a different mech-anism of penetration into the sediments, unless their flowers were eaten for some yet unknown reason. These pollen grains could have been deposited on top of the yellowish material,when it was still wet, in the same mechanism as dust could have been trapped within this layer.

a This group represents digested pollen grains.b A.N. = Absolute numbers.

381D. Langgut et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 9 (2016) 375–385

Fig. 10. Poorly preserved egg of whipworm genus Trichuris (46.64 × 23.59 μm).

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feature under study is composed of the remains of feces. Consideringthe spatial association of the fibrous yellowishmaterial within a circularfeature of pebbles suggests that the feature is the bottom of a construct-ed cesspit. Based on this information, we explored the fecal remainsthrough further pollen analysis.

5.2. The dietary components in the cess deposit

Most of the pollen grains that were extracted from the yellowish fi-brous material and from the brown crust (Samples 1 and 2, Table 2)originated from edible plants probably resulting from eating (e.g., ce-reals, and olives) or drinking potions (e.g., mint, sage,myrtle and nettle)made from certain plants. This observation supports the analyses andinterpretation above, that thematerial is related to cess deposits.Withinthese pollen assemblages, Ficus carica (commonfig) is probably the bestindicator that these are indeed ingested pollen grains: The common figis pollinated by an elaborate symbiosis with a particular species of a twomillimeter long wasp (Blastophaga psenes); the flowers are practicallyinvisible, as they bloom inside the syconium (Galil and Neeman,1977). Therefore, the commonfig is usually extremely under-represent-ed in pollen spectra. The appearance of fig pollenwithin this assemblagemay indicate that the entire fruit was consumed.

The palynological spectrum of Samples 3 and 4 (sediments takenslightly below the yellowish fibrous material), most probably representamixture of ingested pollen thatwere derivedmore or less equally fromplants that were consumed, and pollen that represents a natural “back-ground” spectrum. According to Bryant (1974b) the occurrence of pol-len grains of non-edible zoophilous plants which are usually under-represented in palynological assemblages probably indicate, in thistype of context, accidental ingestion rather than intentional diets: thegrains could have settled on prepared foods, accidentally been inhaled,or been trapped in drinkingwater sources. Based on the relatively goodstate of pollen preservation in Samples 1–4 (in comparison to the al-most pollen barren Samples 5 and 6), it is clear that a different deposi-tional environment characterized the yellowish fibrous material andthe sediments below it. This unique depositional environment is alsoevident from the petrographic microscopy analysis and the occurrenceof phytoliths: Samples 3 and 4 were characterized by relatively highphytolith concentrations while within the yellowish fibrous materialonly a few phytolith were observed, which probably penetrated dueto a mix with the below sediments.

Pollen is introduced into the intestinal tract through the consump-tion of flowers, foliagewhich includes buds and flowers, seeds and fruitsof certain types and drinking teas derived from foliage or flowers(Adams, 1980; Reinhard et al., 1991). The presence of pollen of grapein fecal material may result from the consumption of grapes, raisins or

wine, as all these can contain considerable amounts of pollen (e.g.,Greig, 1982). Olive pollen in feces may result from the consumption ofolives or olive oil. Samples 1–4 contained high frequencies of cereal pol-len. Most cereals are self-pollinated, thus a large number of pollengrains are found in the hulls (Deforce, 2010 and references therein).Therefore, high values of cereal pollen are common in cess depositsand are explained by the consumption of cereal-based food (e.g.,Deforce, 2010).

As seen in the analysis of the modern pollen rain (Sample 5), highpercentages of wind pollinated taxa are a characteristic feature of sur-face soils in the region (e.g., Horowitz, 1979). The almost total lack ofpollen from edible/potable plants in this sample points to the uniquecharacter of the other four samples. Previous studies show that zooph-ilous plants in soils from non-cultural zones of archaeological sites, allu-vial sediments, or surface soil samples account for 2–4% of thepalynological spectra (Bryant, 1969; Reinhard et al., 1991). Therefore,it seems that the most probable source of high zoophilous pollen ratiosin Samples 1–4 is through floral or inflorescence ingestion. Drinks orteasmade from (or dishes that included) myrtle, mint, chamomile, net-tle and sage flowers or foliage could also have been an important sourceof the zoophilous pollen found in these samples. Another potentialsource which can explain the variety of the pollen taxa is the consump-tion of honey (e.g., Deforce, 2010). Honey contains high concentrationsof zoophilous pollen since it is collected by honeybees from floralsources in the process of honey production (e.g., Bryant and Jones,2001).

The paleoparasitological analysis retrieved only one possible egg ofwhipworm from the fecal matter in Locus 12/H/75. The practical ab-sence of parasite markers could be due either to taphonomic processes,i.e., poor preservation of organic matter, or lack of deposition. Given theexcellent preservation of plant tissue, lipid biomarkers, and pollengrains in the studied feature, we propose that the fecal material studiedhere was not produced by parasite-inflicted individuals.

5.3. The uniqueness of the palynological assemblage

Martin and Sharrock (1964) were among the first to conduct pollenanalysis of human feces remains. They showed that ingested pollentends to be preserved relatively well in this type of material. Theirstudy provided information on prehistoric diets and insights into thecultural usage of specific plants, such as the possible medicinal use ofdifferent types of herbal teas. The reconstruction of diet in ancientNear Eastern sites is mainly based on the extraction and identificationof macro-botanical remains such as seeds, grains and fruits (e.g.,Zohary et al., 2012) and on animal bone remains (e.g., Brian andWapnish, 1985). By using these approaches only, the reconstructeddiet is partial and does not give the full picture. Specifically, beveragesare usually under-represented in dietary reconstructions and the abilityto trace the use of medicinal plants is very limited, when reconstruc-tions are based on macro-botanical remains only. This is not surprisingas several useful plants, especially herbs and spices, can only be recov-ered in the form of pollen because they are harvested before producingseeds, or because only soft and perishable vegetative parts of the plantsare used (e.g., Deforce, 2010).

Palynological analysis is not routinely conducted in most archaeo-logical excavations, at least not in the Near East, due to preservation is-sues and relatively high costs. The unique conditions in the cesspit,which is probably characterized by relatively low oxygen levels, led tothe good state of the pollen preservation. It enables us to suggest thatseveral plants were consumed as beverages (probably herbal teas). In-terestingly they all had medicinal qualities when imbibed. Since worm-wood is a wind pollinated taxon we put it in the group of plants whichrepresent the natural environment, yet, wormwood, also evident by itsname, is a well-known medicinal plant (palynologically only distin-guished to the genus level). Additionally it is absent from the palynolog-ical spectrum of the recent pollen rain (Sample 5). Some of these plants

383D. Langgut et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 9 (2016) 375–385

could have also been used as condiments (e.g., mint, chamomile) or invarious dishes (mint, salvia, myrtle, and nettle).

The case of themyrtle is particularly interesting since it ismentionedin one of the Amarna letters (EA 22: III 29–35; Moran, 1992:55), whichare contemporarywith StratumH-14, when Canaan,Megiddo included,was under Egyptian rule. Myrtle is not native to the Egyptian flora (e.g.,Boulos, 2005) and did not grow there before being introduced byhumans. It is evident from the Amarna letter that myrtle oils wereimported to Egypt from the Kingdom of Mittani (Cochavi-Rainey,2009:53; Moran, 1992:55). Remains of myrtle were also recoveredfrom Area H at Megiddo – identified in charcoal in the slightly laterLevel H-12, dated to the Late Bronze Age III/early Iron I (Benzaquenand Langgut, forthcoming). From exactly the same period, pollen ofmyrtle was extracted from a grinding stone found in Area K at Megiddo(04/K/26 is K-6 or K-5); Weinstein-Evron et al. (forthcoming), sug-gested that myrtle leaves may have been crushed on these grindingstones for medicinal uses. Indeed, ethnographical studies show that dif-ferent parts of the myrtle plant are used for medicinal purposes(Sumbul et al., 2011).

Martin and Sharrock (1964) in their pioneering study also showedthat in addition to diet reconstruction, the pollen data can also beused to reveal seasonality of site occupation. In the case of Megiddo'scesspit, since the analyzed palynological assemblages include plantsthat bloomduring different seasons, it is proposed that the use of the fa-cility was not limited to a certain season, and that the accumulation ofthis deposit represents at least one year of use.

5.4. Archaeological considerations and implications

Identification of cess deposits/latrines in the southern Levant hasusually been based on structural features (e.g., stone toilet seats); insome cases the studies have been accompanied by paleoparasitologyanalysis (mainly the occurrence of parasite eggs and cysts). Examplesfrom the southern Levant for such facilities during the Bronze and IronAges include the Late Bronze Age latrines at Hazor (Fink, 2009: n. 9),Late Bronze Age cesspit at Tell el ͑Ajjul (Petrie, 1932) and several IronAge latrines in Jerusalem and its vicinity (De Groot and Bernick-Greenberg, 2012:72–73 and references therein). At north Levantinesites such facilities are attested as far back as the third millenniumBCE (e.g., Tell Beydar and Hamoukar – Van der Stede, 2003; Lebeau,2005). Their existence and evolution are clearly linked to the develop-ment of complex societies. From the second-millennium BCE such facil-ities are known for example from palaces and private houses at Mari,Ugarit and Nuzi (Fink, 2009 and references therein). The most impres-sive among these ancient installations is the Late Bronze Age latrine fa-cilities found in the Level VII palace at Tell Atchana (Alalakh) (Woolley,1955; Yener et al., 2004a; 2004b, 2005). According to Fink (2009), theTell Atchana installations are the earliest flush toilets known thus farin the region. It is noteworthy that before the Roman period almost alllatrine facilities from the region were found in palatial contexts or inbuildings that imitate regal luxury (Fink, 2009; McMahon, 2015).

As noted above, the Megiddo cesspit was located inside a building.According to Fink (2009), the latrines in Tell Atchana (Alalah) were lo-cated inside buildings; owing to the special architectural features thatcharacterize them, they entailed considerable engineering proficiencyprior to construction of the building, e.g., installation of drains, toilet ba-sins or foot-stands, channels running under floors and through walls,waterproof walls and floors, and cesspits.

As shown above, the identification of latrines in the archaeologicalrecord in the region is primary based on structural features (e.g., stonetoilet seats). In some cases nearby cess deposits were subjected to par-asite analysis. That means that in cases when the structural features arenot indicative and/or parasite remainswere not preserved, as in the cur-rent study, these installations could have been missed or misidentified.Our study demonstrates several types of analyses that can be carried outin order to determine the presence of cess deposits in the archaeological

record. In addition, conducting a palynological investigation in cesspits,latrines and other types of waste deposits is highly recommended since,as this study demonstrates, pollen analyses of such contexts may pro-vide significant additional information on former plant use, which inmost cases cannot be obtained through the study of macro botanical re-mains. Prior to this study, only one investigation in Israel of such a facil-ity involved a palynological analysis, which produced limited results(Cahill et al., 1991). In contrast, in other regions around the globe suchanalysis is much more common (for example Bryant, 1974a, 1974b;Bryant and Williams-Dean, 1975; Bryant et al., 2012; Deforce, 2006,2010; Greig, 1981, 1982, 1994; Horrocks and Best, 2004; Knights et al.,1983; Kuijper and Turner, 1992; Reinhard et al., 1991). Incidentally, ina recent study that aimed at defining a potential “indicator package”for identification of cesspits in the archaeological record (Smith,2013), use of methods such as infrared spectroscopy, petrographic mi-croscopy and lipid analyses – as suggested in this study – are not listed.

The Megiddo cesspit is among the earliest found in the southern Le-vant. It is located in close proximity to the Late Bronze Age palace (Fig. 4;Area AA Stratum VIII – Loud, 1948 Fig. 382); the remains in Area H canbe interpreted as an auxiliary (administrative) structure near the palace,or a residency connected to the family of the ruler or his entourage. Theother two Late Bronze toilets known fromancient Israel alsoderive frompalatial contexts: several cesspits connected by drains and an ex situstone toilet seat from Area M at Hazor (Fink, 2009 n. 9) and a cesspitfrom Tell el Ajjul (Petrie, 1932). Canaan of the time was a province ofEgypt and Megiddo was the hub of a city-state under Egyptian domina-tion. Stone toilet seats are known from 14th century BCE Tell el-Amarna(Brovarski et al., 1982), the capital of Amenophis IV (Akhenaton), one ofthe two pharaohs of the Amarna tablets, possibly the addressee of atleast some of the Biridiya letters from Megiddo.

6. Conclusion

Based on the comprehensive analyses presented here, we suggestthat the yellowish fibrous feature identified at Megiddo, composed ofphosphatized vegetal matter and surrounded by pebbles with phospha-tized rims (the brown crusts) on their upper part, is an in situ anthropo-genic installation. These brown crusts were formed by the reaction ofphosphate-rich solutions with the calcium available on the surface ofthese pebbles (i.e., a phosphate reaction rim, sensu Weiner et al.,1993), which means that the source of phosphate came from above.The yellowish phosphatized vegetal material is degraded fecal matter.The preservation of organic compounds characteristic of fecal material(such as cholesterol and coprostanol), some of which are also presentin human feces, and the presence in relatively high ratios of pollenfrom edible/potable plants, strengthens our identification of the struc-ture as a cesspit. This observation is also corroborated by the limitedsize of the feature,meaning that the find is unlikely to represent remainsof animal dung. The installation was recovered from a stratum dated tothe Late Bronze IIA (14th century BCE). It is therefore among the earliestevidence of a cesspit identified thus far in ancient Canaan/Israel, togeth-er with such facilities unearthed at Hazor and Tell el A͑jjul; in all threecases, the installations were located in palatial areas andwere thereforeprobably used by members of ruling groups.

This study demonstrates how several different complementingmicro-archaeological methods can help to identify an unfamiliar mate-rial found in an excavation. Furthermore, it shows how small and mac-roscopically unattractive archaeological features can yield a wealth ofinformation about the past. The micro-archaeological indicators pre-sented in this study are not limited to the Levant and are applicable atother sites around the globe. The palynological analyses of this uniquecontext provide additional information about the ancient vegetativediet ofMegiddo's inhabitants and the use ofmedicinal plants; this infor-mation may not have been obtainable through the study of macro bo-tanical remains.

384 D. Langgut et al. / Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 9 (2016) 375–385

Acknowledgements

The research was supported (in part) by the Israel Science Founda-tion grant no. 2141/15, given to D. Langgut and by the Chaim KatzmanArchaeology fund at Tel Aviv University given to I. Finkelstein. Infraredand microscopic analyses were conducted by R. Shahack-Gross at theKimmel Center for Archaeological Science, Weizmann Institute of Sci-ence. We are grateful to B. Rosen for the exchange of thoughts andideas and to M. Cavanagh and A. B. Prins for their help with the prepa-ration of the figures.

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