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Hi, Due to the differences in their digestive systems, horses tend to have larger pieces of plant material in their dung, as opposed to cattle, a fact mentioned in: Anderson, S. and Ertug-Yaras, F. 1998 'Fuel, Fodder and Faeces: An ethnographic and Botanical study of dung fuel use in Central Anatolia', Environmental Archaeology 1, 99-109 and Gaimster, D.R.M. 1986 'Dung Tempering? A Late Norse Case Study from Caithness', Medieval Ceramics 10, 43-7. (The larger pieces make dung a smoky fuel, but a good ceramic temper). I also have a reference to equid parasite eggs from: Nansen, P. 1991 'Finds of Parasite Eggs in Manure Layers' in Bencard, M., Jorgenson, L. and Madsen, H.B. Ribe Excavations 1970-76:3 Sydjysk Universitetsforlag, Esbjerg 37-41. I knew that undergrad dissertation on dung would be useful one day! Sue Archer PhD Student Dept of Archaeology University of York On Nov 17 2005, Christian Küchelmann wrote: > Hi all, > > I would like to forward a request of my colleague Roman Hovsepyan, > archaeobotanist at the Institute of Botany in Yerevan, Armenia. > > Does anyone know data or publications containing information about > distinguishing criteria for horse versus cattle faeces from > archaeological deposits? I assume they are easy to discriminate when > they have their original shape, but is there a possibility to identify > the origin in shapeless faeces too, e. g. by the content or condition of > plant fibres. > > Best > > Christian >