Archaeologists are notorious Luddites — forever crowing about how much we can discover with just a trowel, a bucket, and a strong constitution.

Technology, though, will not be denied, and every once in awhile it reminds us that we ignore it at our peril.

Case in point: archaeologists working at the site of Ashkelon, Israel uncovered a white, powdery surface they originally interpreted as a plaster floor inside a residential or ritual structure.  When they subjected a sample of the material to spectroscopic analysis, however, they discovered it was something quite different from what they’d imagined.  Rather than a fine floor, the white substance was decayed plant life and fecal matter.  That’s right, folks, it was poop.

They hadn’t found the interior of a house or temple, but an animal pen.

Archaeology, meet Science.  You two should hang out more often.

Here’s the article in the New York Times if you’d like to read more.