Publication and Dissemination of The Fallow Deer Project

Visit any stately home and somewhere on the grounds you are likely to find a herd of European fallow Deer (Dama dama dama). Undoubtedly an elegant and iconic sight, they are also one of natural history's puzzles because despite their modern distribution, and despite their name, European fallow deer are not of European origin: they are native to Anatolia, where the species became restricted during the last Ice Age (c. 40,000-10,000 years ago). It is clear from archaeological artefacts, iconography and the remains of the animals themselves that the spread of D. d. dama from Anatolia was entirely due to human transportation and that fallow deer held a unique semi-domestic position within each of the societies responsible for their movement: for instance the cultures of the Balkan Neolithic, Bronze Age Aegean (Mycenaean, Minoan), Iron Age Greece and Gaul, and the Roman, Byzantine and Norman Empires. More opaque are the questions of when, how quickly, by what mechanisms and, perhaps most importantly, why fallow deer were transported from their homeland. To address these issues and thereby gain important insights into past patterns of human migration, trade and social ideology, I have undertaken a two-year interdisciplinary project to examine the natural/social history of fallow deer.

The project's results are challenging the 'received wisdom' about the species and providing a more nuanced appreciation of its role in European cultures dating between 4500 B.C. and A.D. 1450. Research leave is sought to bring these results to the consciousness of researchers, students and the general public with the following outputs:

1) Sykes, Baker, Hoelzel, Masseti and Vernasi 'Re-writing the natural history of fallow deer: new insights from ancient DNA', Journal of Archaeological Science.
The project has produced new ancient DNA results that challenge established beliefs about the species' evolutionary biology. This paper will contextualise these results using evidence from modern fallow deer populations.

2) Sykes, 'The origins and spread of European fallow deer', Mammal Review.
This article will present a refined model for fallow deer (and thus human) migration, based on zooarchaeological records for fallow deer in Europe and the Near East.

3) Sykes and Cullen, 'Deer and deer hunting in Anglo-Saxon England: the evidence from zooarchaeology and place-names', Antiquaries Journal.
This article will redress the erroneous information concerning the natural/social history of fallow deer that has recently come into circulation within the academic literature.

4) Data collected during the project will be published on an up-dated version of the project's existing website. This will be a vital resource for zooarchaeological researchers.

5) Sykes, 'Rituals and relics: the cultural significance of fallow deer in Europe 4500 B.C. to AD 1450', Environmental Archaeology.
As both living animals and as body parts, fallow deer have been incorporated into expressions of social and religious identity. This article will examine the mechanisms and motivation for these acts.

6) Sykes, 'The presence and cultural significance of game reserves in Roman Britain', Landscapes.
Fallow deer have influenced the development of Europe's landscape and this article will demonstrate the interpretative potential of fallow deer research for landscape studies.

7) Sykes and Allen 'Animal invaders: the social history of introduced fauna in southern England', Sussex Archaeological Collections.
The project has been supported by the Sussex Archaeological Society, the partner in my AHRC-funded collaborative doctoral award 'Animalscapes and Empire'. Written together with the collaborative student, this paper will disseminate the results of both projects.

It is intended that publication of the project will provide a research platform from which to launcha major investigation into the species with international collaboration.