Centre for Human Palaeoecology Research Forum- Autumn 1997"Synthesis"A joint research endeavour of the Departments of Biology and ArchaeologyThe Centre for Human Palaeoecology held a one-day forum at the Tempest Anderson Hall, Yorkshire Museum, York on the 29th October 1997. The theme was "Synthesis".
Programme10.00 - Assemble (coffee).10.30 - Chair: Welcome and introduction. 10.40 - Don Brothwell (Department of Archaeology, York): Iodine and bones: a contribution to theoretical zooarchaeology. 11.10 - Harry Kenward (EAU): Known associates and suspicious characters: Species associations in archaeological insect assemblages. 11.40 - Michael Charles/Amy Bogarde/Glynis Jones (University of Sheffield): The FIBS project. 12.10 - Cluny Johnstone (EAU): Blowing apart a few myths: Changes in the size and shape of archaeological horses. 12.40-14.00 - Lunch 14.00 - Paul Buckland (University of Sheffield): Recent work on the island of Gus. 14.30 - Keith Dobney (EAU): Hogs and hypoplasia: The usefulness of recording dental defects on archaeological pigs’ teeth. 14.50 - Mary Lewis (University of Bradford): Growth as a measure of stress in medieval child populations. 15.10 Ian Barnes (University of York): Recent work on the molecular identification of geese species from archaeological remains. 15.30-16.00 - Tea 16.00 - Peter Rowley-Conwy (University of Durham): East is east and west is west but pigs go on forever! 16.20 - Allan Hall, Harry Kenward, Keith Dobney and Raimonda Usai (EAU): Selected lessons from the regional reviews. 16.50 - General questions, discussion and closing remarks
Centre for Human Palaeoecology Research Forum - AbstractsAbstracts from a one-day forum held at the Tempest Anderson Hall, York on 29th October 1997Compiled by: D. Jaques and K. Dobney,
This document is no. 97/47 in the series Reports from the Environmental Archaeology Unit, York
Iodine and bones: a contribution to theoretical zooarchaeology Don Brothwell (Department of Archaeology, University of York) Do we take enough account of the impact of environmental factors on mammalian growth? We study and measure bones as if we fully understand environmental influences — but do we? Iodine is an element which is critical to the healthy functioning of the thyroid gland, and thus of the production of thyroid hormones. Insufficient iodine can severely damage the foetus or retard post-natal development. There are many areas of the world where iodine is insufficient and it is important to ask if this has had an important impact on earlier human populations and their mammalian domesticates in such localities. Clearly we need more radiographic or dry bone information on modern animals with long-term hypothyroidism. There is also a need to re-examine archaeological bone assemblages from areas known to have endemic iodine deficiency.
Known associates and suspicious characters: Species associations in archaeological insect assemblages. Harry Kenward (EAU, University of York) In an earlier forum we reported results of preliminary investigations of consistent associations of species in archaeological insect assemblages, arguing that they had considerable interpretative importance. A successful application to NERC for funding to investigate these associations more fully followed. Although plagued by frustrating computer problems, the project has so far proved immensely successful. Various techniques have produced similar groupings of species. These groupings remain essentially robust following the application of a variety of filters and transformations of the data, and make ecological ‘sense’. The ‘house fauna’ association remains largely consistent across several sites so far investigated, although subtle variations, for example between Anglo-Scandinavian Coppergate and the Early Christian Deer Park Farms site, have been found. These almost certainly reflect different juxtapositions of habitats on the site, and variations of human behaviour, and are thus of interpretative value. At Coppergate, for example, human lice (Pediculus humanus) were associated with house fauna groups, whether in situ or dumped. At Deer Park Farms, these lice were found in yards, and were initially thought to have been dumped in house sweepings. However, the present analyses suggest an independent mode of deposition - probably deliberate de-lousing in the open air. So far we have concentrated on examining correlations between pairs of species, and then on various clustering procedures, in order to understand the associations ‘bottom up’. This has proved a wise approach, since the clusters into which some taxa fall are rather a matter of chance and easily altered by manipulation of the data. We intend to move on into using Decorana and Twinspan, and then multi-dimensional scaling (principal co-ordinates analysis) in order to understand the relationships between clusters and to produce accessible graphical output. We will also combine data from sets of sites, and from all the sites. We have not yet been able to achieve one of our aims - testing very small assemblages to determine whether the associations identified in the project are significantly over-represented. However, this now appears to be a feasible approach. The present project, and other work, also suggest that significant changes in the structure of insect communities through time will be demonstrable.
Michael Charles, Amy Bogaard and Glynis Jones (Department of Archaeology and Prehistory, University of Sheffield) As evidence of past agricultural practices, the weeds accompanying crops in archaeobotanical samples have been the subject of much recent research in Europe. The weed floras associated with early crops were often different from those found in cultivated fields today and in the recent past. In particular, character species of the phytosociological class Chenopodietea are often more abundant in ancient weed floras, while character species of the class Secalinetea are clearly predominant in 20th century cereal fields. Interpretation of these ancient weed floras varies, reflecting the ambiguity of existing autecological and phytosociological data for modern weeds. These data are derived primarily from field observations, making it difficult to determine the aspects of the arable environment (water or nutrient availability, sowing time of the crop, degree of shade etc.) to which weed species are responding. As a result, the same archaeological weed evidence has variously been interpreted as due to particular tillage or sowing practices or to overall ‘quality’ of husbandry. Modern studies provide a rich dataset on the association of weed species with different agricultural regimes. It remains to find a way of linking particular species with particular aspects of the arable environment as the key to using these modern data in the interpretation of archaeobotanical evidence. The Functional Interpretation of Botanical Surveys (FIBS) offers a means of producing this link. FIBS is a type of floristic analysis developed at the Unit of Comparative Plant Ecology (UCPE) for investigating the role of ecological processes on species distribution within a wide range of habitats. There is increasing evidence that species tolerant of a particular ecological factor tend to share a suite of common adaptive characteristics (i.e. are of a particular ‘functional type’) and that those from other environments will have different attributes and belong to other ‘functional types’. FIBS assumes that the key ecological processes operating on the vegetation can be identified simply from an analysis of the distribution of these various ‘functional types’ and is therefore readily applicable to a wide range of practical situations.
Blowing apart a few myths: Changes in the size and shape of archaeological horses Cluny Johnstone (EAU, University of York) This talk is based on the work undertaken during my undergraduate dissertation whose aim was to test the hypothesis that horses have increased in size from the Iron Age onwards and provide a generalised picture of horses from each period (Iron Age, Roman, Saxon and Medieval). This required synthesis of bone measurement data from various sources, covering northern Europe (in practice mostly Britain) within the time frame of 600 BC to AD 1600. Modern comparative data was also collected as reference points for the archaeological data. The limited timescale of an undergraduate dissertation has meant that many potentially useful sources of information could not be fully pursued. These results are therefore more in the nature of preliminary findings which highlight the requirements for further work. Three standard types of analyses were carried out; calculation of the withers heights, estimation of body-weight using the volume of the astragalus and a standardised variable on the limb bones and finally, using shape indices to look at the proportions of the limbs. Data from the first two were then combined to give an indication of build. The findings show that in the Iron Age, horses (or more accurately ponies) averaged 12.1 hh in height and resembled the modern Exmoor breed in terms of overall build. Roman horses show two distinct types; the first similar to the Iron Age ponies but taller (13.3 hh), the second taller still (14-15 hh) and more heavily built (much like a modern cob). During the Saxon period there appears to be a change back to predominantly smaller (13.2 hh) but quite robust ponies. In the Medieval period the average horse appears very similar to Saxon ones, although a few relatively large individuals begin to appear. The results in part confirm the original hypothesis although they also show interesting deviations. Further work is intended, adding more biometric data to that already gathered. In addition, other supplementary sources of evidence, such as harness, saddles, bits and armour, could all be used to provide a more accurate picture of the size and shape of ancient horses since these would have been actually fitted to the live animals.
The end of Norse Greenland: recent work at GUS Paul Buckland (Department of Archaeology and Prehistory, University of Sheffield). With Peter Skidmore (University of Sheffield) and P.I. Buckland (University of Umeå Sweden). The frozen ground of the Western Settlement of Norse Greenland, provides optimum preservation conditions. In 1995-6, excavations at GUS, Gardar under Sandet, allowed a detailed sampling programme within rooms and in the surrounding landscape. One sample was obtained from immediately over a well-preserved goat, the last occupant, which had entered the house and died before the roof had collapsed ca. 1350 ad. All insects which had been associated with the warm, nutrient-rich habitat of the occupied farm are absent, having become extinct with the departure of the human occupants and their domestic stock, and the one fly species associated with carrion is Heleomyza borealis, today found in essentially natural assemblages and able to breed outdoors in the Arctic. Similar faunas lacking evidence of human activity were obtained from other samples, although the presence of the small rove beetle Xylodromus concinnus (Marsh.) in one indicates the proximity of the farm. The earliest records of the species in N. Europe are in Roman York, and it was spread across the North Atlantic with the Norse settlers in the 10th and 11th century. Jens Boecher has noted an association with Inuit turf houses and the disappearance of this house type has probably lead to its extinction in Greenland; whether the beetle made the transition from farms to Thule huts or was reintroduced with Hans Egede presents a problem that only further sampling may resolve. The rather sparse picture of the natural landscape around the farm contrasts sharply with the samples from within the buildings. A sample from a byre includes the ectoparasites of its denizens, the ked Melophagus ovinus and the louse Damalinia ovis, both found on sheep, and of man, the louse, Pediculus humanus and the flea Pulex irritans. Their presence in the byre raises the possibility that the herdsman dwelt with his stalled animals, perhaps a necessity when the weak stock had to be force fed a not particularly palatable mixture as fodder. The indoor faunas are dominated by X. concinnus, and the larger predatory rove beetle Quedius mesomelinus, which has similarly been recorded from Inuit huts. The remaining staphylinid, Boreophilia islandica (Kr.), is not usually synanthropic, occurring in grassy meadows and under stones. Like the water beetles from the sample, this species could have been introduced in peat used as litter over the twig, moss and woodchip floor. Whilst in Iceland Lathridius minutus is associated with Corticaria elongata, in Greenland the association is with C. rubripes, an indigenous species known from the 2nd millennium BC palaeoeskimo site at Qeqetassuk in Disko. The species is able to exploit both natural and man-made accumulations of mouldy plant debris in the Arctic. The two modern finds of C. rubripes lie roughly half way between the Disko Bay and the abundant finds in the Western Settlement. Whether C. rubripes was acquired accidentally by the Norse farmers from natural habitats or refuges in decaying Late Dorset Eskimo houses is unknown. The fly faunas from within the Norse farms have been studied extensively by Skidmore. Several taxa are introduced, only able to maintain populations in the warmth of the farmhouses. The paucity of carrion and fat/marrow processors in the assemblages indicate a need for the farmers to recover every last bit of fat in order to balance their diet, a feature also evident in the high fragmentation rate of the animal bone from the sites. A sample from within a soapstone pot consists almost entirely of puparia of the synanthropic fly Heleomyza serrata. This animal completed its life cycle in the faecal and other debris which accumulated in the living floors. In the pot its presence requires another explanation, in that much of the sample consists of charred seaweed, the float bladders of Fucus vesiculosus. Seaweed on farm sites in Greenland has been traced by the presence of the wrack fly fauna at Tumeralik and by fragments of the epizootic hydroid Dynamena pumila at Niaqussat. Remains of this colonial animal are widespread on coastal farms in Iceland, and charred seaweed has also been noted amongst midden material from the post medieval farm site at Stóraborg on the south coast of Iceland. The hydroid also occurs on a Norse site at Tuquoy on Orkney, and charred seaweed is noted from Birsay in Orkney and Papa Stour on Shetland. Its presence on inland farms in Greenland suggests more than casual use of an available resource. In Scotland, seaweed was collected on a large scale and either composted or used directly as manure. As kelp, it was extensively burnt in the post-medieval period as a source of potash and iodine. The GUS association of an indoor carrion fly fauna and charred seaweed could be explained by comments made by Martin Martin during a tour of the Outer Hebrides at the end of the seventeenth century. He notes that ‘The natives salt the seals with ashes of burnt sea-ware, and say that they are good food’, and that on St. Kilda, ‘Burnt ashes of sea-ware preserve cheese, instead of salt’. Whilst the other Atlantic communities might supplement their salt supplies from the Atlantic fisheries, the isolated Greenland communities ran the risk of sodium deficiency if they maintained the European tradition of cooking their meat. Seaweed ash was a normal source of salt in Iceland, and the GUS charred seaweed is best interpreted either as domestic salt production or meat storage in seaweed ash. A sample from a fireplace provides an intimate picture of life in one room of the farm. The small sample includes 22 human lice and 18 human fleas. Whilst the bulk of this material must reflect accumulation after the hearth had cooled, three of the fleas are charred, and there are also charred beetles. The latter may reflect use of either dung from the byres or turf from the midden as fuel, but the charred fleas conjure an image of the occupants sitting by the dim light of the fire, picking off their ectoparasites and flicking them into the fire.
Hogs and hypoplasia: The usefulness of recording dental defects on archaeological pigs’ teeth Keith Dobney (EAU,University of York) Abnormal incremental lines, known as linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH), recorded from archaeological human teeth have been used to throw considerable light upon the health of past populations. By measuring their severity and position on the tooth crown it has also been possible, in some instances, to reconstruct chronological patterns of physiological stress during the period reflected by tooth crown development. However, this kind of study has rarely been undertaken on non-human material. This project set out to further develop methodological and interpretative procedures in order to study enamel hypoplasia in one of man's most important domestic animals - the pig. By recording these abnormal lines visible on the tooth crowns of numerous archaeological pigs’ teeth, we have been able to construct a retrospective chronology of physiological stress for five different archaeological assemblages. Our results confirm that LEH is a common occurrence in all the populations investigated. It can thus be inferred that, given the geographical and temporal differences between these sites, LEH is likely to be a frequently observable phenomenon on a global scale. Analysis of the frequency distribution of the height of each LEH lesion on the lingual surface of each cusp of each molar shows that the occurrences of LEH follow clear patterns, and are certainly not random events. Taking into account the published data on tooth crown growth in the modern domestic pig, comparison of the observed patterns of LEH, and the chronology of the developmental events within the pigs' life cycle, strongly suggest that these patterns have underlying physiological causes. It is our thesis that birth and weaning are the direct causal agents of the two discrete peaks noted on the first permanent molar (M1), whilst a period of under-nutrition encountered during the first winter of the animals' life is thought to be the main causal factor for the occurrence of the single distinct LEH peak noted on the second permanent molar (M2). These links between patterns of LEH and the normal developmental physiology of the animal open a number of possibilities for interpretation. This pilot project has established the basic interpretative value of recording hypoplastic lesions on archaeological pigs’ teeth and has shown that significant and meaningful patterns of data can be recovered from archaeological material, using rapid recording techniques. It is clear that patterns of enamel hypoplasia between different archaeological assemblages of pigs can provide important archaeological information within regional and temporal frameworks.
Growth as a measure of stress in medieval child populations Mary Lewis (Department of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford) This paper presents some preliminary results of a skeletal study aimed to investigate the changes in morbidity and mortality of non-adults (0-17 years) making the transition from a rural to an urbanised community in Medieval England. The first skeletal sample represents children living in the Anglo-Saxon community of Raunds Furnells (AD 850-1150), and the second consists of children buried within the parish of St. Helen-on-the-Walls, York (AD1100-1600). Although low social-status, overcrowding and the polluting industries near the parish of St. Helen-on-the-Walls were expected to have a detrimental effect on the growth of the children living there, growth curves reveal that, in fact, it is the rural children who show a height deficit when compared to their urban peers. This difference is as much as a significant 2.3 cm in the older age groups (P<0.05), and may be explained by the particular economic and cultural factors of these two communities.
Recent work on the molecular identification of geese species from archaeological remains Ian Barnes (Department of Biology, University of York) An ongoing project between the EAU and the Laboratory for Molecular Ecology has been to identify goose remains from archaeological sites using ancient DNA methods. At a previous EAU forum we presented the results of the genetic analysis of modern material which formed the baseline necessary for the study of archaeological remains. Over the past few months we have recovered DNA from goose bones from two assemblages - the post medieval site at Vicars Court, Lincoln and the mid-late Saxon site at Flixborough, north Lincolnshire. This paper will discuss the results of the molecular analyses, the consequences of this work for morphometric identification and future directions for the molecular analyses of archaeological bird remains.
East is east and west is west but pigs go on forever! Peter Rowley-Conwy (Department of Archaeology, University of Durham) This presentation considers the distinction between wild and domestic pigs. It compares the early agricultural sites of Troldebjerg (western Baltic) and Peschany 1 (Peter the Great Bay) and concludes that a majority of domestic and a minority of wild animals can be seen at each site. Methods discriminating between wild and domestic pigs seem thus to be widely applicable in the Old World; tooth measurements are particularly useful. Finally the site of Ajvide (Gotland, central Baltic) is mentioned; here only one population is present, apparently wild.
Selected lessons from the regional reviews Allan Hall, Harry Kenward, Keith Dobney and Raimonda Usai (EAU) A review of work in environmental archaeology in the northern counties of England was commissioned by English Heritage from the EAU Research Fellows and their colleagues at the University of Durham in 1995. Work on the first stage of the review - individual studies of soils and sediments, macrofossil plant remains, invertebrate macrofossils and vertebrate remains - is now well under way and some general lessons are emerging. This contribution discusses a variety of issues arising from the reviews:
 Return
to the Environmental Archaeology Unit homepage.
|