Crappy Artifacts

Coprolite: a piece of fossilized dung

Of all the data used by scientists who study the past, coprolites are by far the crappiest. They also happen to be my favorite. Archaeologists, paleoanthropologists, and paleontologists all use these natural time capsules in their investigations. At first glance, coprolites may seem a miniscule artifact. They tell us what the creator of that deposit was eating. Ok. We can assume that information from context clues, like what plants were native to a certain area at a certain point in time. But the specific diets of dinosaurs, pre-human and early human ancestors, and genetically modern humans continue to surprise and delight the people who study each of those groups as well as everyday people.

Paleontologists study fossilized plants and animals, and animal excrement. Coprolites help fill in the gaps of knowledge that these scientists have regarding food chains, native flora and fauna, migration patterns, and sometimes introduce us to new paleo species. A recent discovery has provided researchers with new data to understand paleo oceanic food webs. They have also been able to compare the floral and faunal remains in this fossilized feces to a modern sea creature believed to be similar to the creator of this ancient deposit. This research can not only further unravel past food webs, but present ones as well.

Paleoanthropology is the study of pre-human primates and early humans through the fossil record. For these scientist, coprolite study has applications for modern humans. Not only can they help us understand human evolution, they can also help us understand our health today. By studying pre-human coprolites, scientists can better understand what our evolutionary ancestors ate, when and why their diets changed, and apply that information to modern health issues. By studying pre-human and early human microbiomes (gut bacteria) scientists can also understand better the different influences genetics and our environments have on our health today.

Archaeologists study the human past through the cultural and biological remains left behind. For archaeologists, coprolites provide insight into human migration, trade routes, and methods of political control. When and how people first entered the Americas is a point of much debate in some archaeological circles as well as between archaeologist and the actual native people of the Americas. Most of the artifacts associated with these early groups are made from rock, and therefore not dateable. Some charcoal and fecal remains have allowed scientists to better date this early occupation of the Western Hemisphere. In addition to this, people all over the world have engaged in the trading of goods, coprolites can help archaeologists better understand these when trade routes formed, how long they lasted, and who they were between. Finally, archaeologists have used fecal data to uncover more ominous methods of political control. Coprolites recovered from a settlement in the American Southwest which dates to around 1100 CE (common era) have been reported as containing lipids which only occur in human feces containing digested human flesh. These lipids were only present in coprolites recovered from the part of the settlement where the upper-class lived. It has been concluded by some archaeologists that this implies a ruling class which maintained control through cannibalism at this specific settlement. Some archaeologists have hypothesized this ruling class was a group of individuals who left the Aztec Empire and moved north to what is now the American Southwest and enforced their rule over the people who were already living there through cannibalism.

When it comes to understanding the history of life on this planet, coprolites are some of the rarest, information packed resources for researchers. They help unravel mysteries related to ancient and modern food webs. Coprolites also aid us in understanding modern digestion through comparison to ancient digestion. They can even give scientist unexpected data which causes them to rethink trade, migration, and socio-political relations among ancient humans. At the end of the day, we are what we eat.