02386naa a2200241 a 450000100080000000500110000800800410001902400510006010000160011124500980012726000090022552016680023465000130190265000150191565000150193065000160194565300260196165300280198770000200201570000170203570000150205277300770206718877452021-11-03       2011    bl uuuu     u00u1 u    #d7 ahttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2010.12.0152DOI1 aBIRK, J. J.  aFaeces deposition on Amazonian Anthrosols as assessed from 5b-stanols.h[electronic resource]  c2011  aIn the Amazon Basin, within a landscape of infertile soils, fertile Anthrosols of pre-Columbian origin occur (Amazonian Dark Earths or terra preta de Índio). These soils are characterized by high amounts of charred organic matter (black carbon, biochar) and high nutrient stocks. Frequently, they were considered as sign for intensive landscape domestication by way of sedentary agriculture and as sign for large settlements in pre-Columbian Amazonia. Beyond the archaeological interest in Amazonian Dark Earths, they increasingly receive attention because it is assumed that they could serve as a model for sustainable agriculture in the humid tropics (terra preta nova). Both questions lack information about the pre-Columbian practices which were responsible for the genesis of Amazonian Dark Earths. It has often been hypothesized that deposition of faeces could have contributed to the high nutrient stocks in these soils, but no study has focussed on this question yet. We analyzed the biomarkers for faeces 5b-stanols as well as their precursors and their 5b-isomers in Amazonian Dark Earths and reference soils to investigate the input of faeces into Amazonian Dark Earths. Using Amazonian Dark Earths as example, we discuss the application of threshold values for specific stanols to evaluate faeces deposition in archaeological soils and demonstrate an alternative approach which is based on a comparison of the concentration patterns of 5b-stanols with the concentration patterns of their precursors and their 5b-isomers as well as with local backgrounds. The concentration patterns of sterols show that faeces were deposited on Amazonian Dark Earths.  aAmazonia  aAnthrosols  abiomarkers  aterra preta  aAmazonian Dark Earths  aLandscape domestication1 aTEIXEIRA, W. G.1 aNEVES, E. G.1 aGLASER, B.  tJournal of Archaeological Sciencegv. 38, n. 6, p. 1209-1220, Jul. 2011.