David Orton | University of York (original) (raw)

Journal Articles by David Orton

Nature Communications, Oct 3, 2018

The analysis of lipids (fats, oils and waxes) absorbed within archaeological pottery has revoluti... more The analysis of lipids (fats, oils and waxes) absorbed within archaeological pottery has revolutionized the study of past diets and culinary practices. However, this technique can lack taxonomic and tissue specificity and is often unable to disentangle signatures resulting from the mixing of different food products. Here, we extract ancient proteins from ceramic vessels from the West Mound of the key early farming site of Çatalhöyük in Anatolia, revealing that this community processed mixes of cereals, pulses, dairy and meat products, and that particular vessels may have been reserved for specialized foods (e.g., cow milk and milk whey). Moreover, we demonstrate that dietary proteins can persist on archaeological artefacts for at least 8000 years, and that this approach can reveal past culinary practices with more taxonomic and tissue-specific clarity than has been possible with previous biomolecular techniques.

Antiquity, 2018

Çatalhöyük is one of the most well-known and important Neolithic/Chalcolithic sites in the Middle... more Çatalhöyük is one of the most well-known and important Neolithic/Chalcolithic sites in the Middle East. Settlement at the site encompasses two separate tell mounds known as Çatalhöyük East and West, with the focus of attention having traditionally been upon what is often regarded as the main site, the earlier East Mound. Limitations of dating evidence have, however, rendered the nature of the relationship between the settlements on these mounds unclear. Traditional models favoured a hiatus between their occupation, or, alternatively, a rapid shift from one site to the other, often invoking changes in natural conditions by way of an explanation. New dates challenge these theories, and indicate a potentially significant overlap between the occupation of the mounds, starting in the late seventh millennium BC.

The growth of medieval cities in Northern Europe placed new demands on food supply, and led to th... more The growth of medieval cities in Northern Europe placed new demands on food supply, and led to the import of fish from increasingly distant fishing grounds. Quantitative analysis of cod remains from London provides revealing insight into the changing patterns of supply that can be related to known historical events and circumstances. In particular it identifies a marked increase in imported cod from the thirteenth century AD. That trend continued into the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, after a short downturn, perhaps attributable to the impact of the Black Death, in the mid fourteenth century. The detailed pattern of fluctuating abundance illustrates the potential of archaeological information that is now available from the high-quality urban excavations conducted in London and similar centres during recent decades. Supplementary material is published online

As the cumulative volume of ecofactual data from archaeological sites mounts, the analytical tool... more As the cumulative volume of ecofactual data from archaeological sites mounts, the analytical tools required for its synthesis have not always kept pace. While recent attention has been devoted to spatial aspects of meta-analysis, the methodological challenges of chronological synthesis have been somewhat neglected. Nowhere is this issue more acute than for urban sites, where complex, well-dated stratigraphy; rich organic remains; and multiple small-to medium-scale excavations often lead to an abundance of small datasets with cross-cutting phasing and varied chronological resolution. Individually these may be of limited value, but together they can represent the environmental and socioeconomic history of a city. The challenge lies in developing tools for effective synthesis. This paper demonstrates a new approach to chronological meta-analysis of ecofactual data, based upon (a) use of simulation to deal with dating uncertainty, and (b) calibration of results for variable research intensity. We apply this approach to a large body of historic-period fish bone data from London, revealing otherwise undetectable detail regarding one of the most profound shifts in medieval English economic and environmental history: the sudden onset of marine fishing commonly known as the Fish Event Horizon. Most importantly, we show that this phenomenon predates any visible decline in deposition of freshwater fish, and hence cannot have been driven by depletion of inland fisheries as has sometimes been suggested. The R package developed for this research, archSeries, is freely available.

Hutchinson WF, Culling M, Orton DC, Hänfling B, Lawson Handley L, Hamilton-Dyer S, O’Connell TC, ... more Hutchinson WF, Culling M, Orton DC, Hänfling B, Lawson Handley L, Hamilton-Dyer S, O’Connell TC, Richards MP, Barrett JH. 2015. The globalization of naval
provisioning: ancient DNA and stable isotope analyses of stored cod from the wreck of the Mary Rose, AD 1545. Royal Society Open Science 2: 150199. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.150199

A comparison of ancient DNA (single-nucleotide poly-
morphisms) and carbon and nitrogen stable isotope evidence
suggests that stored cod provisions recovered from the wreck
of the Tudor warship Mary Rose, which sank in the Solent,
southern England, in 1545, had been caught in northern and
transatlantic waters such as the northern North Sea and the
fishing grounds of Iceland and Newfoundland. This discovery,
underpinned by control data from archaeological samples of
cod bones from potential source regions, illuminates the role
of naval provisioning in the early development of extensive sea
fisheries, with their long-term economic and ecological impacts.

Antiquity, May 28, 2014

The growth of medieval cities in Northern Europe placed new demands on food supply, and led to th... more The growth of medieval cities in Northern Europe placed new demands on food supply, and led to the import of fish from increasingly distant fishing grounds. Quantitative analysis of cod remains from London provides revealing insight into the changing patterns of supply that can be related to known historical events and circumstances. In particular it identifies a marked increase in imported cod from the thirteenth century AD. That trend continued into the fifteenth and sixteenth London centuries, after a short downturn, perhaps attributable to the impact of the Black Death, in the mid fourteenth century. The detailed pattern of fluctuating abundance illustrates the potential of archaeological information that is now available from the high-quality urban excavations conducted in London and similar centres during recent decades.

PLOS ONE, Jun 13, 2014

This study presents the results of a major data integration project bringing together primary arc... more This study presents the results of a major data integration project bringing together primary archaeozoological data for over 200,000 faunal specimens excavated from seventeen sites in Turkey spanning the Epipaleolithic through Chalcolithic periods, c. 18,000-4,000 cal BC, in order to document the initial westward spread of domestic livestock across Neolithic central and western Turkey. From these shared datasets we demonstrate that the westward expansion of Neolithic subsistence technologies combined multiple routes and pulses but did not involve a set ‘package’ comprising all four livestock species including sheep, goat, cattle and pig. Instead, Neolithic animal economies in the study regions are shown to be more diverse than deduced previously using quantitatively more limited datasets. Moreover, during the transition to agro-pastoral economies interactions between domestic stock and local wild fauna continued. Through publication of datasets with Open Context (opencontext.org), this project emphasizes the benefits of data sharing and web-based dissemination of large primary data sets for exploring major questions in archaeology

Godišnjak CBIANUBiH, 43, 2014

The Neolithic in the central Balkans saw dramatic changes in settlement forms, architecture, and ... more The Neolithic in the central Balkans saw dramatic changes in settlement forms, architecture, and material culture, with substantial, often long-lived settlements that can reasonably be called villages emerging in the later part of the period. This paper examines the role of herding practices in the development of these large, more-or-less settled communities. Radiocarbon results (including twenty-seven new AMS dates from Gomolava, Opovo, and Petnica) are used to place the available zooarchaeological data into a chronological framework, allowing comparison of inter- and intra-site changes across the region. The data point to the development of large-scale cattle herding in the later Neolithic, the implications of which for mobility and community cohesion are discussed. This trend is seen clearly over time at certain sites but, like the settlement evidence, is neither universal nor synchronous across the region, emphasizing that change occurred, and should be understood, on the level of individual communities.

Although recent historical ecology studies have extended quantitative knowledge of eastern Baltic... more Although recent historical ecology studies have extended quantitative knowledge of eastern Baltic cod (Gadus morhua) exploitation back as far as the 16th century, the historical origin of the modern fishery remains obscure. Widespread archaeological evidence for cod consumption around the eastern Baltic littoral emerges around the 13th century, three centuries before systematic documentation, but it is not clear whether this represents (1) development of a substantial eastern Baltic cod fishery, or (2) large-scale importation of preserved cod from elsewhere. To distinguish between these hypotheses we use stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis to determine likely catch regions of 74 cod vertebrae and cleithra from 19 Baltic archaeological sites dated from the 8th to the 16th centuries. δ13C and δ15N signatures for six possible catch regions were established using a larger sample of archaeological cod cranial bones (n = 249). The data strongly support the second hypothesis, revealing widespread importation of cod during the 13th to 14th centuries, most of it probably from Arctic Norway. By the 15th century, however, eastern Baltic cod dominate within our sample, indicating the development of a substantial late medieval fishery. Potential human impact on cod stocks in the eastern Baltic must thus be taken into account for at least the last 600 years.

Taphonomy is central to many attempts to address social questions from archaeological animal rema... more Taphonomy is central to many attempts to address social questions from archaeological animal remains, especially where those questions relate to practices of consumption and deposition. Without a clear analytical framework for this purpose, however, results can verge on the anecdotal. Following a review of the structure of taphonomy, this paper presents just such a framework designed to isolate archaeologically relevant patterns of behaviour through a comprehensive, quantitative analysis of numerous taphonomic variables. The typical formation processes shaping zooarchaeological assemblages are grouped into five broad stages and considered in reverse chronological order, allowing the analyst to work backwards towards the ‘death assemblage’ while identifying evidence of cultural practices. Particular attention is paid to differences between taxa, context types, phases, etc., that cannot be explained in mechanistic terms. This process is illustrated with selected data from a wider study of the Vinča (late Neolithic) site of Gomolava, Serbia, tracing the identification of one particular set of depositional practices.

Archaeological fish bones reveal increases in marine fish utilisation in Northern and Western Eur... more Archaeological fish bones reveal increases in marine fish utilisation in Northern and Western Europe beginning in the 10th and 11th centuries AD. We use stable isotope signatures from 300 archaeological cod (Gadus morhua) bones to determine whether this sea fishing revolution resulted from increased local fishing or the introduction of preserved fish transported from distant waters such as Arctic Norway, Iceland and/or the Northern Isles of Scotland (Orkney and Shetland). Results from 12 settlements in England and Flanders (Belgium) indicate that catches were initially local. Between the 9th and 12th centuries most bones represented fish from the southern North Sea. Conversely, by the 13th to 14th centuries demand was increasingly met through long distance transport – signalling the onset of the globalisation of commercial fisheries and suggesting that cities such as London quickly outgrew the capacity of local fish supplies.

This paper advocates a social approach to domestic animals in prehistory, one which situates herd... more This paper advocates a social approach to domestic animals in prehistory, one which situates herding practices in their (human) social context while also recognising the status of animals of social beings in their own right. Domestic animals, it is argued, represent sentient property in the sense that despite being incorporated as ‘objects’ into property relations between humans they remain subjects whose social world overlaps with that of humans. This tension between the status of domestic animals as subject and as object is played out in highly context-specific ways, being linked both to human social organisation and to material/geographical aspects of herding practices. These ideas are used to develop a model for the role of cattle in a process of social change that took place during the later Neolithic Vinča period in the central Balkans.

Papers by David Orton

V. Koprivnik, D. Salecl (eds.), SREČANJA TISOČLETIJ / THE CONVERGENCE OF MILLENNIA, 2023

In zooarchaeology, highly fragmented, poorly preserved, or worked animal remains often cannot be ... more In zooarchaeology, highly fragmented, poorly preserved, or worked animal remains often cannot be taxonomically identified with certainty. The same problem arises when trying to distinguish between species with anatomically very similar skeletal remains. In this paper, we show how Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) was used to unequivocally identify a rat femur from an Early Iron Age cremation grave at the Dvorišče SAZU cemetery in Ljubljana (present-day Slovenia). The specimen could be assigned to the black rat (Rattus rattus), possibly indicating an early arrival of this rodent in Europe.

Internet Archaeology, 2010

... Related research. A Traffic Traffic Signal Signal Analysis Analysis Tool Tool for for... more ... Related research. A Traffic Traffic Signal Signal Analysis Analysis Tool Tool for for ArcGIS ArcGIS Desktop Desktop ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. Radha Krishna Swayampakala in Civil Engineering (2003). ... First name. Last name. E-mail address. ...or sign in with Facebook. ...

The distribution of the black rat (Rattus rattus) has been heavily influenced by its association ... more The distribution of the black rat (Rattus rattus) has been heavily influenced by its association with humans. The dispersal history of this non-native commensal rodent across Europe, however, remains poorly understood, and different introductions may have occurred during the Roman and medieval periods. Here, in order to reconstruct the population history of European black rats, we generated a de novo genome assembly of the black rat, 67 ancient black rat mitogenomes and 36 ancient nuclear genomes from sites spanning the 1st-17th centuries CE in Europe and North Africa. Analyses of mitochondrial DNA confirm that black rats were introduced into the Mediterranean and Europe from Southwest Asia. Genomic analyses of the ancient rats reveal a population turnover in temperate Europe between the 6th and 10th centuries CE, coincident with an archaeologically attested decline in the black rat population. The near disappearance and re-emergence of black rats in Europe may have been the result of the breakdown of the Roman Empire, the First Plague Pandemic, and/or post-Roman climatic cooling.

Fish and Fisheries, 2019

Small‐scale fisheries provide food and livelihoods for thousands of people along the Brazilian co... more Small‐scale fisheries provide food and livelihoods for thousands of people along the Brazilian coastline. However, considerable uncertainties still surround the extent to which artisanal and subsistence fisheries contribute to the total of national landings and their historical ecological significance. Fisheries monitoring is deficient in Brazil,
and historical records are limited to irregular accounts spanning the last few decades, while this coastline has supported human populations for at least 6,000 years. Here, we estimate pre‐Columbian subsistence catches for a large subtropical estuary in southern Brazil. Our results suggest that prehistoric populations may have extracted volumes of fish biomass higher than or comparable with historical subsistence fish‐
eries in the region, and that the latter is likely underestimated. If a long‐term per‐spective is required to evaluate the current economic value and status of fisheries in subtropical and tropical South America, this should go beyond the historical time interval and integrate the contribution of pre‐Columbian archaeology.

Science, 2020

Dogs were the first domestic animal, but little is known about their population history and to wh... more Dogs were the first domestic animal, but little is known about their population history and to what extent it was linked to humans. We sequenced 27 ancient dog genomes and found that all dogs share a common ancestry distinct from present-day wolves, with limited gene flow from wolves since domestication but substantial dog-to-wolf gene flow. By 11,000 years ago, at least five major ancestry lineages had diversified, demonstrating a deep genetic history of dogs during the Paleolithic. Coanalysis with human genomes reveals aspects of dog population history that mirror humans, including Levant-related ancestry in Africa and early agricultural Europe. Other aspects differ, including the impacts of steppe pastoralist expansions in West and East Eurasia and a near-complete turnover of Neolithic European dog ancestry.

Scientific Reports (Nature Research), 2020

Tthe house mouse (Mus musculus) represents the extreme of globalization of invasive mammals. Howe... more Tthe house mouse (Mus musculus) represents the extreme of globalization of invasive mammals. However, the timing and basis of its origin and early phases of dispersal remain poorly documented. to track its synanthropisation and subsequent invasive spread during the develoment of complex human societies, we analyzed 829 Mus specimens from 43 archaeological contexts in Southwestern Asia and Southeastern Europe, between 40,000 and 3,000 cal. BP, combining geometric morphometrics numerical taxonomy, ancient mitochondrial DnA and direct radiocarbon dating. We found that large late hunter-gatherer sedentary settlements in the Levant, c. 14,500 cal. BP, promoted the commensal behaviour of the house mouse, which probably led the commensal pathway to cat domestication. House mouse invasive spread was then fostered through the emergence of agriculture throughout the Near East 12,000 years ago. Stowaway transport of house mice to Cyprus can be inferred as early as 10,800 years ago. However, the house mouse invasion of Europe did not happen until the development
of proto urbanism and exchange networks — 6,500 years ago in Eastern Europe and 4000 years ago in
Southern Europe — which in turn may have driven the first human mediated dispersal of cats in Europe.

Nature Communications, Oct 3, 2018

Antiquity, 2018

Antiquity, May 28, 2014

The growth of medieval cities in Northern Europe placed new demands on food supply, and led to th... more The growth of medieval cities in Northern Europe placed new demands on food supply, and led to the import of fish from increasingly distant fishing grounds. Quantitative analysis of cod remains from London provides revealing insight into the changing patterns of supply that can be related to known historical events and circumstances. In particular it identifies a marked increase in imported cod from the thirteenth century AD. That trend continued into the fifteenth and sixteenth London centuries, after a short downturn, perhaps attributable to the impact of the Black Death, in the mid fourteenth century. The detailed pattern of fluctuating abundance illustrates the potential of archaeological information that is now available from the high-quality urban excavations conducted in London and similar centres during recent decades.

PLOS ONE, Jun 13, 2014

Godišnjak CBIANUBiH, 43, 2014

V. Koprivnik, D. Salecl (eds.), SREČANJA TISOČLETIJ / THE CONVERGENCE OF MILLENNIA, 2023

Internet Archaeology, 2010

Fish and Fisheries, 2019

Science, 2020

Scientific Reports (Nature Research), 2020

PNAS, 2019

Archaeological evidence indicates that pig domestication had begun by ∼10,500 y before the presen... more Archaeological evidence indicates that pig domestication had begun by ∼10,500 y before the present (BP) in the Near East, and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) suggests that pigs arrived in Europe alongside farmers ∼8,500 y BP. A few thousand years after the introduction of Near Eastern pigs into Europe, however, their characteristic mtDNA signature disappeared and was replaced by haplotypes associated with European wild boars. This turnover could be accounted for by substantial gene flow from local Euro-pean wild boars, although it is also possible that European wild boars were domesticated independently without any genetic contribution from the Near East. To test these hypotheses, we obtained mtDNA sequences from 2,099 modern and ancient pig samples and 63 nuclear ancient genomes from Near Eastern and European pigs. Our analyses revealed that European domestic pigs dating from 7,100 to 6,000 y BP possessed both Near Eastern and European nuclear ancestry, while later pigs possessed no more than 4% Near Eastern ancestry, indicating that gene flow from European wild boars resulted in a near-complete disappearance of Near East ancestry. In addition, we demonstrate that a variant at a locus encoding black coat color likely originated in the Near East and persisted in European pigs. Altogether, our results indicate that while pigs were not independently domesticated in Europe, the vast majority of human-mediated selection over the past 5,000 y focused on the genomic fraction derived from the European wild boars, and not on the fraction that was selected by early Neolithic farmers over the first 2,500 y of the domestication process. domestication | evolution | gene flow | Neolithic

– Recent work at Vinca-Belo Brdo has combined a total of more than 200 radiocarbon dates with an ... more – Recent work at Vinca-Belo Brdo has combined a total of more than 200 radiocarbon dates with an array of other information to construct much more precise narratives for the structural history of the site and the cultural materials recovered from it. In this paper, we present the results of a recent attempt to construct formal models for the chronology of the wider Vinca potscape, so that we can place our now detailed understanding of changes at Belo Brdo within their contemporary contexts. We present our methodology for assessing the potential of the existing corpus of more than 600 radiocarbon dates for refining the chronology of the five phases of Vinca ceramics proposed by Milojcic across their spatial ranges, including a total of 490 of them in a series of Bayesian chronological models. Then we outline our main results for the development of Vinca pottery. Finally, we discuss some of the major implications for our understanding of the source, character and tempo of material change.

Recent work at Vinča-Belo Brdo has combined a total of more than 200 radiocarbon dates with an ar... more Recent work at Vinča-Belo Brdo has combined a total of more than 200 radiocarbon
dates with an array of other information to construct much more precise narratives for the structural history of the site and the cultural materials recovered from it. In this paper, we present the results of a recent attempt to construct formal models for the chronology of the wider Vinča potscape, so that we can place our now detailed understanding of changes at Belo Brdo within their contemporary contexts. We present our methodology for assessing the potential of the existing corpus of
more than 600 radiocarbon dates for refining the chronology of the five phases of Vinča ceramics proposed by Milojčić across their spatial ranges, including a total of 490 of them in a series of Bayesian chronological models. Then we outline our main results for the development of Vinča pottery. Finally, we discuss some of the major implications for our understanding of the source, character and tempo of material change.

In the Konya Plain in Central Anatolia the transition from the Late Neolithic (LN) to the Early C... more In the Konya Plain in Central Anatolia the transition from the Late
Neolithic (LN) to the Early Chalcolithic (EC) occurs circa at the beginning of a period of regional drying conditions. This transitional period also roughly corresponds to the so-called 8.2 cal B.P Climatic Euent (or simply '8.2 event'), which has been suggested as a possible cause for suspected drought on a wide scale, increased seasonality and fluctuating weather conditions, particularly in the Near East and North Africa between 6400 and 5800 cal B.C. On the Konya Plain,
the prehistoric settlement of Catalhöyük spans the LN/EC transition before final abandonment ca. 5500 cal B.C., providing an ideal case study for evaluating the impact of climate and environment change on cultural systems during the seventh millennium. Tltis paper will present regional proxy data relating to the environment alongside results from excavations at Catalhöyük West and discuss
the possible effect of the 8.2 event on the settlement.

The first spread of farming practices into Europe in the Neolithic period involves two distinct ‘... more The first spread of farming practices into Europe in the Neolithic period involves two distinct ‘streams’, respectively around the Mediterranean littoral and along the Danube corridor to central Europe. In this paper we explore variation in Neolithic animal use practices within and between these streams, focusing on the first region in which they are clearly distinct (and yet still in close proximity): the western Balkans. We employ rigorous and reproducible meta-analysis of all available zooarchaeological data from the region to test hypotheses (a) that each stream featured a coherent ‘package’ of herding and hunting practices in the earliest Neolithic, and (b) that these subsequently diverged in response to local conditions and changing cultural preferences.
The results partially uphold these hypotheses, while underlining that Neolithisation was a complex and varied process. A coherent, stable, caprine-based ‘package’ is seen in the coastal stream, albeit with some diversification linked to expansion northwards and inland. Accounting for a severe, systematic bias in bone recovery methodology between streams, we show that sheep and goats also played a major role across the continental stream in the earliest Neolithic (c.6100–5800 BC). This was followed by a geographically staggered transition over c.500 years to an economy focused on cattle, with significant levels of hunting in some areas – a pattern we interpret in terms of gradual adaptation to local conditions, perhaps mediated by varying degrees of cultural conservatism. Subsequent westward expansion carried with it elements of this new pattern, which persisted through the middle and late Neolithic.

Journal of Archaeological Science, 2011

Investigation of the transition between the Late Neolithic (LN) and Early Chalcolithic (EC) aroun... more Investigation of the transition between the Late Neolithic (LN) and Early Chalcolithic (EC) around 6,000 cal BC on the two mounds at Çatalhöyük/Central Anatolia is hampered by the erosion of the relevant layers on the East Mound and the fact that the corresponding layers on the West Mound are buried under developed EC occupation deposits. This paper sheds light on the process drawing on evidence from Trench 7, a 14C-dated deep sounding on the eastern fringe of the West Mound. The extent and method of excavation can only provide a limited picture of this important transition period and gradual move of the settlement from the East to the West Mound; but stratigraphy, architectural remains and artifacts and ecofacts pieced together with evidence from drilling cores, the preceding LN layers from the East Mound and the subsequent EC layers on the West Mound as well as other sites from the region allow for the reconstruction of the transition progress from the 7th to the 6th millennium cal BC.

Growing urban populations place ever heavier and more concentrated demands on hinterlands, which ... more Growing urban populations place ever heavier and more concentrated demands on hinterlands, which must be met by intensified production and/or geographical expansion of resource bases. As transport costs and land availability limit expansion in supply of terrestrial bulk goods, marine ecosystems come to represent an increasingly important alternative food source. This paper explores the relationship between the expansion of fisheries and historical processes of urbanisation in 9th-16th century England, using zooarchaeological and stable isotope data.

An explosion in sea fishing around 1000AD was associated with the emergence of England's first medieval towns, with precursors at 9th-10th century proto-urban trading centres. We use stable isotope analysis for cod - one of the most important medieval species - to demonstrate that this explosion in consumption initially involved locally caught fish. Demand from growing urban populations, particularly in London, eventually seems to have outstripped local supply, however: from the 13th-14th centuries long-distance imports from northern waters played an increasingly significant role, and by the 15th-16th centuries most analysed bones from London were imported. As the frontiers of resource exploitation were pushed beyond local ecosystems, urban consumers became increasingly detached from producers, reliant on distant resources about which they can have had little knowledge.

Workshop abstract: Efforts to conserve biodiversity in the present – and to anticipate impacts ... more Workshop abstract:

Efforts to conserve biodiversity in the present – and to anticipate impacts of environmental change in the future – often draw on assumptions about the status of ecosystems in the past. While rich material evidence for past animal populations and their exploitation emerges every day from archaeological excavations, limited communication between disciplines means that this potentially valuable data source is seldom brought to bear on conservation issues.

This open workshop brings together archaeologists and conservation scientists to discuss the role of time depth in conservation of marine, freshwater, and avian fauna, and the potential and problems of using archaeological datasets in this context. It is open to all interested students and researchers regardless of disciplinary background, and especially to people working in conservation outside academia.

- What roles do baseline data play in contemporary conservation?
- Can time depth help to understand impacts of human activity vs. climatic change?
- Which forms of archaeological evidence might be useful in this context?
- How can archaeo-historical data best feed into conservation policy and practice?
- What communication problems must be overcome, and how?

During the 13th-15th centuries much of the eastern Baltic littoral - previously largely pagan - u... more During the 13th-15th centuries much of the eastern Baltic littoral - previously largely pagan - underwent Christian colonisation. A combination of fasting practices and the colonisers’ cultural preferences appears to have created increased demand for fish in the region, with widespread consumption of marine species such as cod attested zooarchaeologically from the 13th century. This paper presents results from the first stage of a stable isotope provenancing study exploring (a) the role of long-distance trade vis-à-vis local
fisheries in meeting this demand for fish, and (b) the political/economic context and implications of the cod trade in the region.

The Hanseatic League of merchant towns - which quickly established new members in the colonised regions - is known to have held a monopoly over a lucrative stockfish trade between Bergen and the western Baltic trading hub of Lübeck. This trade appears to have been extended to supply the new markets in the east: our initial results show that specimens from 13th-mid 14th century Poland and Estonia were overwhelmingly imported, probably mostly from Norway. On the other hand, a reliable supply of fish was crucial to the Teutonic Order’s extensive networks of castles in Prussia and Livonia, and may have been ensured partly by developing local fishing and processing infrastructures for marine species. Local eastern Baltic cod remains start to appear in late 14th-15th century contexts in Poland, with some of our earliest evidence being from the Order’s castle at Mała Nieszawka, where the dominance of cranial bones suggests that fresh fish were processed for onward transport. Apart from potentially undermining the Hanseatic monopoly in imported stockfish, this development also has considerable ecological significance, representing the beginning of a 600-year process of intensifying
exploitation of eastern Baltic cod stocks.

As part of an ongoing study into the origins of the commercial cod trade in Northern and Western ... more As part of an ongoing study into the origins of the commercial cod trade in Northern and Western Europe, cod bones dating from the 9th to 20th centuries were collected from a large number of archaeological sites around the North Atlantic, North Sea and Baltic Sea. Cranial elements – unlikely to have been transported long distances – were used as control samples to establish isotopic signatures for different geographical areas. Modern data were also collected from most regions.

This paper examines evidence for temporal change within this sample, testing the a priori assumption that both δ13C and δ15N values would remain stable over time amongst the archaeological samples, with evidence for major changes (due to human impact) only becoming evident in the modern data. This hypothesis was largely upheld, with particularly clear evidence for recent eutrophication in the Baltic. However, there was also a drop in eastern Baltic δ13C values in the 15th and 16th centuries, while there are possible signs of ecological change in the early modern North Sea that require further investigation. These results present challenges for the study of cod trade, but are of ecological interest in their own right – potentially resulting from a combination of both natural (e.g. changes in temperature and/or salinity) and anthropogenic (e.g. increased river runoff from more intensive agriculture) factors.

Just as the traditional zooarchaeological preoccupation with calories has fallen out of favour, s... more Just as the traditional zooarchaeological preoccupation with calories has fallen out of favour, so a more recent tendency to see animals primarily in symbolic terms has been widely critiqued. Many archaeologists now recognise that in assessing past perceptions of the animate environment the status of animals as material resources, as social beings, and as symbolic signifiers cannot profitably be separated; to understand the place of animals in prehistoric society we must consider all aspects of their interactions with humans.

This paper advocates just such a holistic approach to (zoo)archaeological data, one which combines broad-brush evidence for geographical and economic aspects of hunting and herding activities with the kind of fine-scale taphonomic consideration of consumption and deposition practices that has become popular in recent years. This approach is applied to perceptions of wild and domestic pigs in the Neolithic Balkans, touching on the question of the existence - or otherwise - of an emic wild:domestic distinction during the period.

Most zooarchaeological studies of secondary products work on the basis that their extraction incr... more Most zooarchaeological studies of secondary products work on the basis that their extraction increases the value of living animals, resulting in disincentives to slaughter that may be detected through kill-off patterns. This reasoning entails a tacit assumption that slaughter strategies reflect only the tangible benefits of livestock, a premise which is manifestly false given that herd animals frequently serve as prestige items, units of wealth, and markers of identity, even where supposedly raised for meat alone. Coupled with concerns such as herd size, security, and growth trajectories, this realisation undermines the basis on which exploitation for milk, wool, and traction is inferred.

Rather than abandoning efforts to detect use of secondary products in prehistory, this paper argues that we should expand the concept to include both tangible products and intangible benefits such as prestige and the ability to participate in exchange. Both are important for the role of animals in human society, they are likely to be interlinked, and they cannot be reliably separated zooarchaeologically. The social value of keeping livestock is not wholly dependent on the material benefits, however, and may indeed have created the conditions for the adoption and refinement of dairying, traction etc. as much as vice versa. If domestication entails a change in focus from the dead to the living animal (Meadow 1984), then the use of secondary products represents a continuation in this direction.

Plant and animal remains are amongst the most abundant archaeological finds, and their analysis i... more Plant and animal remains are amongst the most abundant archaeological finds, and their analysis inevitably begins with a process of identification and classification. At first glance this process is much more straightforward than that for artefacts, since Linnaean taxonomy provides a more-or-less universal classificatory system. While it may or may not be possible to identify a bone fragment or seed to species, and while one may or may not do so correctly, we can at least be sure that the categories themselves are natural types rather than products of subjective, theory-laden typology.

Or can we? This paper raises several causes for doubt. Firstly, the species concept itself applies a static classificatory framework to a fundamentally dynamic system. This can be problematic in deep prehistory, but particular ambiguities arise with domestication. Secondly, I demonstrate that while zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical classification is superficially Linnaean, the interpretive categories (e.g. wild:domestic:commensal) that actually structure analyses are effectively folk-taxonomical. The subjective, somewhat fluid nature of these classifications should, I argue, be embraced, with categories explicitly formulated and justified in relation to cultural context and research questions, as for other forms of archaeological typology. Finally, I touch on the classification of humans vis-à-vis non-human species.

By its very nature quantitative, taphonomic reconstruction in archaeology grew out of, and is oft... more By its very nature quantitative, taphonomic reconstruction in archaeology grew out of, and is often associated with, the more avowedly scientific branches of the discipline. However, a focus on consumption and deposition in recent more socially-oriented perspectives has brought taphonomy to the fore in a rather different context. Taphonomic concerns have never been more central than in the latest formulations of ‘social zooarchaeology’. This paper sets out a new framework for taphonomic analysis, one which is designed to combine the systematic rigour of traditional taphonomic study with an emphasis on isolating patterns of treatment and disposal of animal remains that may be of wider archaeological interest.

In this framework, the analysis works through five broad groups of possible taphonomic processes in reverse chronological order. Each of these stages informs the analysis of subsequent stages, but in many cases also provides direct information on human activities. The aim of this structure is to glean as much information as possible on the human activities that resulted in an assemblage’s formation, and particularly on differences in treatment between species and/or between depositional contexts, sites, phases and so on. At the same time, by working backwards through formation processes it becomes possible to distinguish culturally interesting patterns from biases introduced either by non-human agents or by subsequent human activities.

The social importance of animals within human societies is now widely recognized by archaeologist... more The social importance of animals within human societies is now widely recognized by archaeologists. Zooarchaeological research on the topic has proliferated accordingly, but has mostly concentrated on issues of consumption and deposition, requiring detailed taphonomic research on sites excavated to high standards. In this talk I seek to demonstrate that even the coarse-grained quantitative data produced by traditional zooarchaeology can provide meaningful insights into past social change if interpreted critically. Using published and unpublished zooarchaeological data, along with the latest absolute dating, I chart the changing contributions and roles of animal species across the Neolithic of the central Balkans. Age and sex data are brought to bear on hunting strategies and herd management, but with the recognition that decisions are likely to have been structured primarily by social imperatives. In particular, I argue that the concept of ‘secondary products’ only becomes analytically useful if expanded beyond tangible benefits to include the potential social value of live animals.

The trends revealed by this study can be related to a general model of social change during the period, developed by a series of authors, which links increasing sedentism with a shift from community- to household-focused social organization and increasingly competitive/accumulative property relations. Arguing from the faunal and architectural data, I propose a new variant of this model in which intensified competition at some sites is mediated through the increasing social importance of owning cattle, with both phenomena linked to a change in the form and social scale of mobility. Rather than a region-wide ‘settling-down’ phenomenon, these developments should be seen in terms of individual settlement histories, with sedentism resting on the establishment of commitment to specific places and particular agglomerations of smaller communities. I finish by suggesting how more detailed, particulate research might test this general hypothesis.

The contrast between domestic and wild animals plays a fundamental structuring role in most Europ... more The contrast between domestic and wild animals plays a fundamental structuring role in most European zooarchaeology, being attributed near-complete analytical primacy in faunal studies of the Neolithic and all subsequent periods. Accordingly, domestication is a major theme in zooarchaeological research, but while the causes, mechanisms, archaeological correlates and socio-cultural implications of animal domestication are subject to endlessly fertile debate, the basic coherence of the label ‘domestic’ has rarely been questioned by (zoo)archaeologists. This paper reviews the traditional definitions of domestication before discussing some more recent approaches from anthropology and animal studies. The conclusion reached is that while ‘domestic’ is a potentially useful category, the twin criteria at the core of a coherent definition are not those upon which the efforts of archaeologists – and especially zooarchaeologists – have typically focused. In evaluating these ideas, two underlying themes become apparent: the role of domestication within narratives concerning the separation of nature and culture, and the unhelpful divide between materialist/universalist and idealist/relativist treatments of animals. I echo several recent authors in calling for zooarchaeologists to approach animals neither purely as physical resources nor as arbitrary symbols but rather as animals, living beings that may to varying extents become engaged in social relations both with and between humans.

At first glance, taphonomy - the study of zooarchaeological formation processes - is a dry, techn... more At first glance, taphonomy - the study of zooarchaeological formation processes - is a dry, technical field, far removed from fashionable concerns with consumption, sharing, and the social context of animal use. Following several recent authors, I argue that many taphonomic 'biases' are in fact rich sources of cultural information whose detailed quantitative analysis is crucial if an interpretative, social, zooarchaeology is to move beyond the superficial and speculative

Taking as inspiration both the ‘social zooarchaeology’ of Marciniak’s Placing Animals in the Neolithic (2005), and the more traditional, technical, framework of ‘multivariate taphonomy’ espoused by Bar-Oz & Munro (2004) in a recent special issue of the Journal of Taphonomy, I outline a taphonomic methodology designed for Neolithic sites which I hope combines the archaeological relevance of the former with the methodological rigour of the latter.

Large-scale zooarchaeological synthesis is fraught with problems of quality control and bias, req... more Large-scale zooarchaeological synthesis is fraught with problems of quality control and bias, requiring understanding of sampling strategies employed on the numerous excavations from which data is drawn. In particular, new tools are needed to distinguish genuine temporal and spatial trends in taxonomic abundance from biases in excavation and/or sampling intensity. This paper outlines the development of one such tool and its application to a dataset of approximately 40,000 fish bone records from over 100 excavations in London, United Kingdom. We present a chronological 'calibration curve' for environmental data from London from its Roman foundation (AD 45) to the present day, constructed from over 15,000 wet-sieve 'environmental samples' processed by the city's largest archaeological contractor, Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA). Since most environmental evidence – including fish remains – derives from such samples, their distribution through time and space provides a potential proxy for research intensity. Using this curve, we calibrate time-series of fish-bone data drawn from MOLA's zooarchaeological database against the known volume of samples taken and processed. This allows us to move beyond trends in relative taxonomic abundance and to address changes in the absolute contributions of freshwater, estuarine, and marine taxa to London's food supply as it developed into a major city.

Marine environmental history analyses the changing relationships between human societies and mari... more Marine environmental history analyses the changing relationships between human societies and marine natural resources over time. This is the first book which deals in a
systematic way with the theoretical backgrounds of this discipline. Major theories and methods are introduced by leading scholars of the field. The book seeks to encapsulate
some of the major novelties of this fascinating new discipline and its contribution to the management, conservation and restoration of marine and coastal ecosystems as well as the cultural heritages of coastal communities in different parts of the world.

Harland, JF, Jones, AKG, Orton, DC and Barrett, JH. 2016. Fishing and Fish Trade in Medieval York... more Harland, JF, Jones, AKG, Orton, DC and Barrett, JH. 2016. Fishing and Fish Trade in Medieval York: The Zooarchaeological Evidence, in Barrett, JH and Orton, DC (eds.) Cod and Herring: The Archaeology and History of Medieval Sea Fishing. Oxbow Books, Oxford, 172-204.

Arkadiusz Marciniak (ed.), Concluding the Neolithic, 2019

Investigation of the transition between the Late Neolithic (LN) and Early Chalcolithic (EC) aroun... more Investigation of the transition between the Late Neolithic (LN) and Early Chalcolithic
(EC) around 6000 cal BC on the two mounds at Çatalhöyük in central Anatolia
is hampered by the erosion of the relevant layers on the East Mound and the fact that
the corresponding layers on the West Mound are buried under developed EC occupation
deposits. This article sheds light on the process drawing on evidence from Trench 7, a
14C-dated deep sounding on the eastern fringe of the West Mound. It appears that Çatalhöyük—
an isolated site during the first half of the seventh millennium—is reconnected
to the outside world during the second half of the seventh millennium and subsequently
reestablishes certain traits characteristic of the central Anatolian Neolithic in the first half
of the sixth millennium. Socioeconomic developments characterized by the “Second Neolithic
Revolution” and “Painted Pottery Revolution” on the one hand, and rapid climate
change brought about by the 8.2 event on the other hand, could be the motor behind these
developments. What looks like a major change in settlement structure on a regional scale
around the site appears to be a gradual shift of the occupation focus rather than a hiatus
at Çatalhöyük, while in other parts of the Konya Basin settlements even show continuity.