Bones from Boncuklu

 I’m writing a book! “Archaeological Excrements and the Study of Foodways”, for the CUP Elements series, has been occupying most of my brain for the past few months. The heavy writing is now finished, which means I’ve reached my favourite stage, preparing the figures. In other words, an entirely valid excuse to spend quality time at the microscope, revisiting some old friends in the slide cabinet.

This week’s nostalgia trip took me back to 2012, when I’d recently finished my PhD and was working as a research assistant. At the time, I’d started a small pilot study at the brilliant Boncuklu site in Türkiye. The idea was to compare the midden deposits there with those from Çatalhöyük, that were the focus of my PhD. Unfortunately a postdoc never materialised to take this project further, but writing the book has given me the perfect opportunity to look at these slides again properly.

They are very different to the Çatalhöyük middens, not only in terms of taphonomy, but in the actual micro-remains and inclusions. I’m working up a full paper on all of this, but for the book I’m focusing on excremental materials, and this particular specimen deserves a moment in the spotlight. Behold, a rather beautiful coprolite!

This one is degraded and dispersing within the surrounding midden sediment, but you can see it’s chock full of teeny-tiny bones. Slivers, vertebrae, needle-like fragments only a few mm in size. I strongly suspect fish (any zooarchs who know their microfauna, please let me know!). 

The broader faunal assemblage at Boncuklu is full of wetland species including birds and fish, so it fits with the zooarch evidence. But there’s something neat about seeing it directly encapsulated in a coprolite, showing directly that this creature (fish or otherwise…) was consumed. More details, and pictures, and what it all means for foodways, coming soon in the book!