Abstracts Category : Other

Fecal Stanols as Indicators of Ancient Population Change

by Adam J White

Fecal stanol analysis is an emergent geoarchaeological method that provides a proxy of human population change within a watershed. We provide an overview of the method, summarizing previous research and biochemical, geological, and archaeological considerations necessary for the methods success. We apply the method on cores from lake sediments near Cahokia, Illinois, the largest and most well-studied prehistoric mound center in North America. We find fecal stanol data closely track independently established population reconstructions from multiple sources, confirming the utility of the method and demonstrating its viability in warm climates. We compare the Horseshoe Lake fecal stanol record with paleoenvironmental data from this study and others to evaluate the role of flooding, droughts, and environmental degradation in Cahokias decline. We find Mississippi River flooding and warm season droughts occurred shortly after Cahokias population maximum, but we find no conclusive evidence of prehistoric environmental degradation in the watershed.