Privies

This little guy is our reminder that people deposit food remains in privies. Two primary reasons to examine privy contents for archaeobotanic remains are for the recovery of evidence of foods and parasites. First, let's explore recovery of food evidence. Are all remains created equal? Are these data bases redundant? We recommend looking for pollen, phytoliths, starch, parasites, and macrofloral remains.

Pollen is present on some foods such as broccoli because they are edible flowers or flower buds. Pollen might cling to vegetables such as tomatoes, green beans, other beans, and squash, and to fruits such as grapes, currants and strawberries. Spices such as cloves are represented in the pollen record, because cloves are flower buds. Cereal grain pollen are recovered in privies, as are starches from the various types of cultivated cereal grains. Even tobacco pollen has been recovered in privies.

Phytoliths include both silica bodies and calcium oxalates. Silica bodies are common in corn cobs and glumes (those papery things that get stuck between your teeth when you eat corn-on-the-cob). Ground corn meal contains some of these silica bodies because the glumes are removed at the same time as the kernels. Recovery of Zea mays cob/glume phytoliths are expected if people were eating corn or maize. Cultivated cereal grains have diagnostic spiny elongate phytoliths and hair bases, which help identify the presence of these cultigens. Green beans have silicified hook-shaped hairs that preserve and can be recovered. Dried fecal remains contain calcium oxalates more commonly than do sediments from the same sites, so they are expected to be recovered as part of the phytolith record in privies. Legumes produce angular calcium oxalates and spinach and related plants produce druse (mace-shaped) calcium oxalates. Recovery of these bodies indicates foods consumed.

Starch is an important component of many staple foods. Many starches are dissolved in the digestive tract, beginning in the mouth with saliva. It is possible that some starches survive to be deposited in privies. Cereal grains have starches that can be diagnostic not only of the presence of cereal grains, but of specific cereal grains such as wheat, oats, or barley. Potatoes have a very specific and easily recognized starch. Starches provide the best evidence of the presence of potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, and a variety of other starchy, edible roots and tubers.

Seeds are present in privies because the parts of plants consumed contained seeds. The most notable examples are fruits such as raspberries (and related berries), strawberries, blueberries, etc. Figs also fall in this group, although in North America they also are indicators of trade and transportation. Fig seeds are very similar to strawberry seeds, which experienced macrofloral analysts already know. Seeds such as apple might be consumed by some people, but not others. Recovery of cherry and plum seeds is expected to reflect discard of debris into privies. Mustard, sage, and coriander seeds might be present through use of condiments.

Parasites are recovered in most privies. Throughout much of North America Ascaris (roundworm) and Trichuris (whipworm) are common. As people traveled they took their diseases and parasites with them, depositing evidence in areas where parasites could not live year round outside the human body.

Wood/Charcoal recovered from privies might reflect construction elements or perhaps discard of debris into the privy. Alternatively, it might reflect discard of fireplace or firepit ash or perhaps even the presence of small pieces of charcoal in the air in industrial areas.

Updated 11-06-07