Polished walls as indirect evidence of both the use of caves and stone enclosures as livestock folds and dung management strategies: Ethnological and archaeological examples

The polish generated by sheep and goats in the walls of caves and stone-made enclosures is a clear indicator about their use as a livestock folds. The study of the polish distribution and intensity, together with the data revealed by the sedimentary context, or even if it is absent, allows to understand the kind of management carried out with the animal dung. In this way it is possible to identify if the dung has been merely dismissed, if it has been periodically extracted for the field manuring, and also if it has been intensively exploited by the completely emptying of the caves.