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Fundamental Fungi
a potential proxy for human activity in the landscape
Simon Haberle Janelle Stevenson Mike McPhail
Archaeology and Natural History, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University
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Introduction
Two projects are currently underway in our department exploring the potential of fungal spores, in particular coprophilous fungal spores, as proxies of human presence within a landscape.
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Cultured Podospora
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Dung Fungi Spores - Sporormiella
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Project One
The aim of this project is to investigate whether fungal spores associated with animal dung are a useful proxy for the presence of people and their animals in Pacific island landscapes. The most commonly occurring fungi in this category are Sporormiella spp. and Podospora spp. The absence of a significant native mammal fauna for most of these islands makes them highly suitable for such a study, as coprophilous fungi
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should only be present in large numbers once people and their domestic animals have arrived. Material from a range of archaeological and natural sites from Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji and Rapa are being analysed. The project has the potential to provide an important proxy for the appearance of the pig in the Pacific as well as strengthen the interpretations of human impact from Pacific Island pollen records.
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First colonisation of areas east of the Solomons (yrs BP) based on dated archaeological sequences.
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50 um
Photographs by Mike McPhail
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Illustrated above are just some of the commonly occurring spores found in sites from the locations cited above. The spores have been classified using a system erected by Elsik for
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biostratigraphic purposes. As that system is based on fossil spores, our catalogue of fungal types is now in the process of being compared with modern keys and texts.
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Project Two
New Guinea has been claimed as one of the earliest centers of agricultural development in the world. While our knowledge about the antiquity of plant use continues to unfold, the antiquity of pig introduction remains unknown, due to the problematic dates associated with archaeological pig bone. This is a fascinating question to address given the central role that pigs currently play in highland New Guinea economies and their marked cultural value
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in the highland prestige system. The aim of this project is therefore to investigate when the pig was introduced to New Guinea by utilising a proxy for their presence; microscopic dung fungi preserved in swamp sediments. This will contribute to one of the most significant questions remaining in New Guinea prehistory, that of when the pig, the major animal domesticate of the region, was introduced.
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Sites to be examined under the Pig Dung Fungi Project
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To understand the characteristics of the fossil dung fungi record we have collected modern surface samples from known swamp sites in Papua New Guinea that are currently utilized by domestic pigs. The sampling survey covers the full spectrum of use, from intense to absent. We intend to apply the derived taphonomic and
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taxonomic information from these modern day samples to long sediment records spanning at least the Holocene from the same sites.
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Some of these sites have already been examined for fossil pollen remains and thus provide accompanying proxies of landscape history.
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The diagram shows a summary pollen, charcoal and coprophilous fungi record from Lake Sondambile, a small subalpine lake at 3750m altitude in the Sarawaged Ranges of Papua New Guinea. A 1.7m core from the centre of the lake shows a gradual reduction in coprophilous fungi over the last ~700 cal yr BP. This is coincident with reduced burning and gradual recovery of the subalpine forest, both pointing to reduced
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human utilisation of the alpine environments. Currently human populations live below 2500m altitude subsisting mainly on the highly productive South American tuber, sweet potato, and occasional hunting. The introduction of sweet potato sometime between 700-400 years ago may have been a key factor in reducing both human and pig utilisation of the alpine environments.
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Main findings so far
- There is an astounding diversity in fungal spores both before and after human colonisation
- So far no Sporormiella or Podospora spores have been identified, however there are least 20 other dung fungi associated with pig poo
- While nearly all sites record a change in fungal spore composition from before and after colonisation there are no consistent changes between sites
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Work associated with the archaeological sites is ongoing and we welcome enquiries from students who may be interested in pursuing either research topic.
Simon Haberle  Janelle Stevenson
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