“Archaeologists are probably not aware how much they owe to worms for the preservation of many ancient objects. Coins, gold ornaments, stone implements, etc., if dropped on the surface of the ground, will infallibly be buried by the castings of worms in a few years, and will thus be safely preserved, until the land at some future time is turned up”.

Charles Darwin, 1881, The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms, p. 178, John Murray, ed., London. For a discussion on the subject, cf. Christopher Evans, 2008, Small agencies and great consequences: Darwin’s archaeology, Antiquity 83:475-488.