Richard Jones (ed.). Manure matters: historical, archaeological and ethnographic perspectives.

Wilkinson, T.J.

RICHARD JONES (ed.). Manure matters: historical, archaeological and ethnographic perspectives. xi+249 pages, 18 illustrations, 8 tables. 2012. Farnham & Burlington (VT): Ashgate; 978-0-7546-6988-3 hardback 65 [pounds sterling].

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The sustainability of agricultural production is a crucial topic today, and fertilisation practices are central to any discussion of our agronomic future. Over the years manuring has attracted a flurry of archaeological investigations, but this attention has tended to be episodic and rather disconnected. In his appropriately vigorous introduction to this useful volume, Richard Jones reminds us of the significance of the practice: " ... manure is one of only a handful of truly essential and universal substances whose value to the human condition is so important that it transcends national, political, ethnic, cultural and religious divides" (p. 5). The 12 contributions in this edited volume reflect the cross-disciplinary nature of the subject matter through the inclusion of papers by medieval historians, anthropologists, geochemists, environmental archaeologists and soil scientists. It is therefore hardly surprising that the topic of manuring sometimes slips through the cracks of academia.

As befits the topic of recycling of organic by-products, many of these papers themselves appear to be re-treads of earlier papers, and because several draw their case studies from the British Isles, the balance is hardly even. Nevertheless, it is extremely useful to have such a range of topics from several academic disciplines within a single volume.

Following an introduction by Robert Shiel which takes a historical ecological perspective, the book falls into the following broad categories: 1) papers on archaeological science (Bogaard; Bull & Evershed; Kenward & Hall; Pears); 2) British medieval studies (Cullen & Jones; Jones); 3) non-UK cases (Varisco; Forbes; Ramprasad) and 4) British prehistory (Waddington). As the editor points out in his Postscript, anyone can easily recognise gaps in the content, uneven geographical coverage being probably the most obvious.

The archaeological science chapters include Amy Bogaard's contribution which builds upon her earlier writings on the role of middens and manure in the development of Neolithic agriculture in Europe. Apparently, the typical Neolithic household would have been unable to generate sufficient midden material for such waste to have been the only source of compost or fertiliser for the fields. This implies that animal manure must also have played a crucial role in fertilisation, although both products were scarce. She then summarises the use of stable isotopes of nitrogen ([[delta].sup.15]N) which provide a valuable proxy for ancient manuring. This topic complements Chapter 6, in which Bull & Evershed summarise and develop their earlier articles such as 'Muck 'n' Molecules', published in Antiquity (73:86-96 [1999]). As with nitrogen isotopes, faecal biomarkers complement other techniques such as off-site sherd scatters and soil micromorphology which also provide insights into the application of compost to fields and gardens. The authors make the important point that the appropriate biomarkers co-occurred with potsherds as inclusions within the buried soils under investigation and the stratigraphic context of the samples take the inferred date of manuring back to Early Minoan times (4500-3500 BP). Whereas Bull & Evershed's focus is upon residues within field soils, Kenward & Hall tackle the source by providing a set of 'stable manure indicator groups', namely plant and animal remains which signal the presence of stable manure. Finally, providing a link to the British medieval papers in Chapters 7 and 10, Ben Pears discusses medieval anthropogenic soils in north-west Europe, specifically from the perspective of soil micromorphology. The anthropogenic (plaggen) soils from the Netherlands, Ireland and Fair Isle provide a geoarchaeological record of the use of both organic and inorganic amendments, which have resulted in remarkable over-deepened soil profiles.

The two chapters that focus on medieval England adopt a combined text-based and archaeological perspective which recognises manuring and middens in place names as well as supplying cultural and economic perspectives on the subject. Whereas a cultural distaste for the dunghill often rendered the practice of manuring invisible, economic insights can be gleaned by combining archaeological and textual records. Thus Jones' Chapter 10 points out that low-density pottery scatters alone should not be used to estimate the total manured area. Rather, in Britain these probably result from fertilisation by the peasantry who had to resort to the use of domestic waste, whereas the lords could draw on a wider and better quality range of organic residues that lacked domestic waste and hence did not create such artefact scatters.

Chapters 9, 11 and 12 broaden the perspective to the eastern Mediterranean, Yemen and South Asia, and introduce textual sources which may be less familiar to many readers. Dan Varisco, in Chapter 10, returns to the topic of some of his earlier writings on medieval Yemeni agriculture to provide valuable agronomic advice that complements the better known classical sources. For example, one source warns the farmer that fresh animal dung should not be used as manure because the uncured manure encourages the growth of harmful pests. Alternatively, in a brief but enlightening chapter on Indian Vedic texts (in Sankrit), Ramprasad demonstrates the enduring South Asian tradition of returning nutrients to the soil by the use of manure from sacred cows.

Chapter 11 by Hamish Forbes resumes the perennial debate concerning Mediterranean sherd scatters by harnessing ethnographic data from the Greek peninsula of Methana to disentangle how low-density sherd scatters might be interpreted as indicators of ancient manuring. The presence of artefacts within fertiliser sources also appears in the essays by Bull & Evershed, Pears, and Jones and it is evident that in addition to animal manure, domestic waste was an important component of early fertilising practice. However, the problem remains as to how to differentiate residues of fertilisation from artefact scatters derived from other processes or sources.

In terms of its history, soil fertilisation can be traced back to the first and second millennia BC (according to the Vedic texts), perhaps the third millennium BC (in Minoan Crete), and earlier still in Neolithic Europe. However, in some cases, domestic waste was not spread on fields but appears to have accumulated in situ as in southern England, for which Kate Waddington presents evidence for large Bronze Age middens in the Vale of Pewsey (Wiltshire).

Overall, this book provides a valuable, albeit Eurocentric, perspective on ancient manuring and fertilisation. As Jones points out in his Postscript, this volume is not intended to provide a comprehensive perspective on the subject; nevertheless it clearly demonstrates the potential importance of further multi-disciplinary treatment. One obvious omission, however, is the lack of an urban perspective on manuring. This is unfortunate because towns and cities in Scotland, the Middle East, the Mediterranean and Far East, all demonstrate just how important refuse disposal was around peri-urban areas. Moreover, it is clear from these studies that domestic waste was a problem waiting to be turned into an opportunity.

From an archaeological perspective, the investigation of ancient manuring could well sit at the heart of university courses on environmental archaeology, especially those which aim to tackle questions of agricultural sustainability. In addition, given the recent interest in defining the 'Anthropocene', there is a clear need for a volume on archaeological perspectives on anthropogenic soils. In sum, Manure matters serves to remind us that manuring sits at the heart of sustainable agriculture and that archaeology provides an ideal long-term evidence base for such investigations.

T.J. WILKINSON

Department of Archaeology, Durham University, UK (Email: t.j.wilkinson@durham.ac.uk)