Archaeological history of fish

Date: 23 December 2010

An archaeological history of fish

Studying fish bones and analysing the clues they hold.

Research students Bournemouth University (BU) have been studying ancient fish bones and investigating what they tell us about human behaviour over the centuries.

The event called 'Identifying the rare, the extinct and the exotic' was held by the Archaeological Fish Resource at BU on 15 December.

Lecturer in Archaeology at BU, Dr Ellen Hambleton, said: "There was a huge amount of fish bone material available for study – lots of exotic species and archaeological material. Several students brought their own research material in for identification."

Activities focussed on the socio-economic role of the rare fish species recovered from British, European and Mediterranean archaeological sites. Students discussed how humans could have influenced findings of different species across the globe and what this tells us about trade and migration.

Activities included a talk about the introduction and eradication of key freshwater species such as sturgeon, burbot, carp and pike. A workshop showed how to identify and interpret findings of less common marine fish such as tuna, sharks & rays and freshwater and marine fish common to continental northern Europe, the Mediterranean, Egypt and the Middle East such as parrotfish, jacks, groupers, wels, zander and Nile catfish.

Dr Hambleton continued: "Everyone really enjoyed and appreciated the extensive practical hands-on focus of the workshop. This is a key characteristic of all zooarchaeological and human bone teaching at BU and Visiting Researcher, Sheila Hamilton-Dyer, who led the workshop shares this practical learning ethos too and delivered a fantastic experience for all who took part."