Plant macrofossil, pollen and invertebrate analysis of a mid-14th century cesspit from medieval Riga, Latvia (the eastern Baltic): Taphonomy and indicators of human diet

The paper presents the results of an integrated environmental analysis on the fill of an exceptionally well-preserved mid-14th century cesspit from the historic centre of Riga (Latvia, eastern Baltic). Palynological, plant macrofossils and invertebrate analysis yielded important new information about the use of plants by the indigenous community living within the medieval city, including their socio-economic status. The taphonomy of the botanical and invertebrate data is considered to largely reflect the input of undigested food waste and human faecal material with a subordinate component derived through the input of cereal waste-products. The results show that the diet of the indigenous co…