Assessing bio-cultural impacts on British biodiversity AD 0-1000

A series of UKRI-funded research projects have explored the deep-time history of particular British fauna (e.g. fallow deer, brown hares, rabbits, rats, chickens, domestic and wild cats). Together the results from these projects have highlighted that the 'Dark Age' Cool Period (~6th century AD) appears to represent a mass extinction event, whereby many species disappear from the Zooarchaeological record (see Fig 2). Genetic research has confirmed that some animals present in the Roman period became extinct and were later replaced with different populations around 1000 AD. The scale and drivers of these extinctions are unclear - many other species may have been impacted by climatic and/or cultural change.

Understanding the timing and circumstances of these ancient shifts in biodiversity provides an evidentiary baseline against which modern animal management issues (e.g. extinctions, rewilding and invasive species) can be examined. However, reconstructing the deep history of some of Britain's most iconic extinct species (for instance wild boar, wolves and wild cat) is made difficult by problems of differentiating the archaeological remains of wild and domestic variants. Combined zooarchaeological and isotope analysis offers the possibility of identifying, and therefore tracking the dynamics of, these species.

This project will explore the scale of, and drivers responsible for, shifts in British animal biodiversity, focusing on the 1000-year period (AD 0-1000) which saw dramatic climatic, cultural and economic shifts akin to those being experienced in the present. It will do this at a multi-scalar level using the following approaches:

Synthesising existing zooarchaeological, palaeoclimatological and biomolecular data for British fauna (AD 0 - 1000) and selecting one or more species (e.g. wild cat, wild boar or wolves) as detailed case-studies.

Analysing newly excavated and archived material held by Cotswold Archaeology (and other commercial units and museums) to select and contextualise the remains of the case-study species.

Undertaking zooarchaeological and stable isotope analysis (carbon, nitrogen, sulphur) of the case-study species to differentiate wild and domestic animals (e.g. wild boar versus domestic pig) on the basis of skeletal morphology and dietary niche.

Enamel-based isotope analysis (strontium and oxygen) to examine animal mobility and catchment.

Model the multiscalar data to explore the bio-cultural factors most likely responsible for species presence/absence in the zooarchaeological record.

The selected candidate will shape the project by leading on the selection of the case-study species.

* During an 18-month placement at Cotswold Archaeology the student will undertake zooarchaeological research within a commercial setting, whilst accessing and sampling the materials that will form the basis of their isotope analysis. The student will spend a minimum of four weeks at both Cardiff University and the British Geological Survey (BGS) where they will access sample preparation and mass spectrometry labs.