New evidence has emerged where Hannibal had crossed the Alps into Italy where defeated the Romans during the Second Punic War around 218 to 201 B.C. After confounding historians for over 2,000 years, geologic records withhold organic revelations. Fecal deposits were unearthed from a swampland likely sourced for water and as a dumping ground for the army and animal cavalcade.
Roman historians couldn’t target the mysterious route, and scholars have debated for millennia since. Chris Allen, an associate professor of environmental microbiology at Queen’s University Belfast, and William Mahaney, of York University in Toronto were conducting research unassociated with Hannibal near Col de la Traversette when the topic presented itself upon a slough, Allen shared with Live Science.
It occurred to them that Hannibal’s army complete with 30,000 troops, 37 elephants, and an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 horses, would have needed to pause for water during his conquest.
Subsequently, Allen’s colleague advised that when animals drink they typically defecate. “We realized if we were lucky enough in this mire to find a layer of sediment that was old enough and hadn’t been disturbed, we might actually be able to find evidence of horse manure that would have been left by his army when they passed through,” said Allen, an associate professor of environmental microbiology.
Scientists excavated a cylindrical sample of soil designated as a core and used carbon dating to establish layers dating back to 8,000 years and detailed physical, chemical, and microbial changes that altered the dirt over time.
They then cross-referenced Hannibal’s timeline to the physical identifiers, and a chemical analysis revealed organic substances that are present in a human’s or animal’s stomach. And a DNA analysis showed the presence of horse manure.
“By combining all these methods, we were able to point strongly to the fact that there was an accumulation of fecal materials at the correct date, about 2,200 years ago,” Allen said. The amount of dung found suggested an unusual animal presence in that region during the time, which also correlates with Hannibal’s crossing, reported in Discovery News.
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