Scientists uncover Hannibal’s route through the Alps using horse dung

In one of the boldest moves in ancient history, Carthaginian general Hannibal marched more than 300,000 troops plus some 15,000 horses and 37 elephants across the Alps and invaded Italia, home of the ancient Romans. And yet, despite being legendary, no one knows exactly where Hannibal crossed, but historians have debated the location for over 2,000 years.

Now, researchers from Queen’s University Belfast and beyond seem to have found the answer—and it’s all thanks to poop.

Hannibal was the Commander-in-Chief of the Carthaginian army during the Second Punic War (218-201 BCE)—the second of three bloody contests between Rome and Carthage. Before this particular war began, Hannibal’s father, Hamilcar, took control of parts of what is now Spain, bringing over the Carthaginian army with him. Following his death, Hannibal took over and invaded a city under Rome’s protection, kicking off the Second Punic War.

Rome initially was more or less unworried, thinking that the barrier of the Alps would protect the main part of the empire from the Carthaginians—and they were very wrong. Hannibal did what was seen as impossible, losing many men and animals along the way—but arriving in Italia with enough left to bring the Roman army to its knees. He actually ended up occupying parts of Rome for 15 years before a Roman invasion in North Africa forced him to return to Carthage.

Hannibal was eventually defeated in the Third Punic War at Zama in 202 BCE, but nonetheless he achieved one of the finest military campaigns in antiquity—and his story has fascinated historians ever since.

Where’s the poop, Robin?

Up until now, no physical evidence—like belt buckles or bones—have been found to indicate where Hannibal made his crossing. However, an international team of microbiologists have finally found something…solid. According to the two papers (first and second) in Archaeometry, the researchers believe Hannibal crossed the Alps via the Col de Traversette pass (~1.9 miles or 3000 meters above sea level), which spans between Grenoble, France, and Turin, Italy.

The Col de Traversette pass was first proposed as an option about fifty years ago, but did not gain much traction in the academic community. But using a variety of techniques like microbial metagenome analysis, environmental chemistry, geomorphic and pedological investigation, and pollen analyses, the researchers have shown that a “mass animal deposition” event dating to about 218 BCE occurred near the pass.

“The deposition lies within a churned-up mass from a 1-meter thick alluvial mire, produced by the constant movement of thousands of animals and humans,” said Dr. Chris Allen, from the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s University Belfast, in a statement.

“Over 70 percent of the microbes in horse manure are from a group known as the Clostridia, that are very stable in soil – surviving for thousands of years. We found scientifically significant evidence of these same bugs in a genetic microbial signature precisely dating to the time of the Punic invasion.”

Or in other words, the researchers found evidence of poop—a lot of it. Certainly enough to belong to the thousands of horses Hannibal had with him, and it’s dated to the right time period. And if this discovery should prove to be the discovery of Hannibal’s route, this find is enormous.

“If confirmed, the findings presented here have far-reaching implications for solving the Hannibalic route question and, more importantly, for the identification of a site that might be expected to yield significant archaeological data alongside artifacts related to the Punic invasion,” wrote the authors in the first paper.

“If the site was affected by human–animal traffic, as the evidence indicates, there is every possibility that artifacts such as coins, belt buckles, daggers, equestrian fasteners and so on might have been buried in the mire. If such archaeological evidence can be found and definitively linked to Hannibal, it would answer the question of which route Hannibal and his army took into Italia.”

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Image credit: Wikimedia commons

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