Many ancient stock enclosures in Botswana contain a glassy material known as vitrified dung. There are several hypotheses to explain its formation. This study manages to refute some of these and support others. Clearly, extreme heat is required to turn dung into a glassy substance, but how such high temperatures were generated remains an open question. A new and intriguing possibility is raised here: that vitrified dung is from sheep and that sheep urine may be the important factor in its formation.
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