Zooarchaeology Lab Sheffield
@zooarchlabsheff.bsky.social
Zooarchaeology lab based at the University of Sheffield, home to an extensive animal bone reference collection and one of the most active zooarch research teams in the world
As part of our A&K series (n.21) we are keen to promote the vibrancy of zooarchaeology across the world. This is a classic paper based on South Africa and Lesotho by Ina Plug, the inspirational pioneer of African zooarchaeology. 👉https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440396901533
Late Pleistocene and Holocene Hunter–Gatherers in the Eastern Highlands of South Africa and Lesotho: A Faunal Interpretation
Recent research in the eastern highlands of South Africa and Lesotho has increased our knowledge of Late Pleistocene and Holocene human activities in …
www.sciencedirect.com
January 13, 2026 at 10:21 AM
As part of our A&K series (n.21) we are keen to promote the vibrancy of zooarchaeology across the world. This is a classic paper based on South Africa and Lesotho by Ina Plug, the inspirational pioneer of African zooarchaeology. 👉https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440396901533
🐎 Excited to share a new project led by friend and colleague Maaike Groot at Freie Universität Berlin: “Management, supply and mobility of equids in the northwestern Roman Empire” (DFG-funded).
The project explores how horses and mules supported the Roman army.
Congratulations Maaike!!!
The project explores how horses and mules supported the Roman army.
Congratulations Maaike!!!
January 12, 2026 at 2:47 PM
🐎 Excited to share a new project led by friend and colleague Maaike Groot at Freie Universität Berlin: “Management, supply and mobility of equids in the northwestern Roman Empire” (DFG-funded).
The project explores how horses and mules supported the Roman army.
Congratulations Maaike!!!
The project explores how horses and mules supported the Roman army.
Congratulations Maaike!!!
The wait is over 😉 A&K no. 20 is here!
Featuring Giorgos Kazantzis, former Sheffield MSc and PhD student, now researching and teaching in Greece. Still part of our team, always fondly remembered.
This innovative paper from his PhD deserves far more attention: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Featuring Giorgos Kazantzis, former Sheffield MSc and PhD student, now researching and teaching in Greece. Still part of our team, always fondly remembered.
This innovative paper from his PhD deserves far more attention: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Size and shape of Greek Late Neolithic livestock suggest the existence of multiple and distinctive animal husbandry cultures
In this paper we discuss domestic livestock morphometric data from the Late Neolithic Greek regions of Macedonia and Thessaly. Six sites are considere…
www.sciencedirect.com
January 8, 2026 at 3:00 PM
The wait is over 😉 A&K no. 20 is here!
Featuring Giorgos Kazantzis, former Sheffield MSc and PhD student, now researching and teaching in Greece. Still part of our team, always fondly remembered.
This innovative paper from his PhD deserves far more attention: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Featuring Giorgos Kazantzis, former Sheffield MSc and PhD student, now researching and teaching in Greece. Still part of our team, always fondly remembered.
This innovative paper from his PhD deserves far more attention: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Zooarchaeology Lab Sheffield
#EAAforDemocracy Democracy is at stake at EAA: all archaeologists should be very concerned
A Special Meeting for members will take place on Jan 9th 2026 about the dysfunctioning of the current EAA leadership. See below:
A Special Meeting for members will take place on Jan 9th 2026 about the dysfunctioning of the current EAA leadership. See below:
January 7, 2026 at 1:35 PM
#EAAforDemocracy Democracy is at stake at EAA: all archaeologists should be very concerned
A Special Meeting for members will take place on Jan 9th 2026 about the dysfunctioning of the current EAA leadership. See below:
A Special Meeting for members will take place on Jan 9th 2026 about the dysfunctioning of the current EAA leadership. See below:
A&K n.19 spotlights the work of Pam Crabtree, one of the most influential zooarchaeologists of the past few decades 🦴
Best known for her work at West Stow, this issue highlights her lesser-known but vital research on middle Saxon sites. Enjoy! eaareports.org.uk/publication/...
Best known for her work at West Stow, this issue highlights her lesser-known but vital research on middle Saxon sites. Enjoy! eaareports.org.uk/publication/...
Middle Saxon Animal Husbandry in East Anglia
Pam Crabtree, 2012. 'Middle Saxon Animal Husbandry in East Anglia', East Anglian Archaeology 143
eaareports.org.uk
December 29, 2025 at 1:50 PM
A&K n.19 spotlights the work of Pam Crabtree, one of the most influential zooarchaeologists of the past few decades 🦴
Best known for her work at West Stow, this issue highlights her lesser-known but vital research on middle Saxon sites. Enjoy! eaareports.org.uk/publication/...
Best known for her work at West Stow, this issue highlights her lesser-known but vital research on middle Saxon sites. Enjoy! eaareports.org.uk/publication/...
Congratulations to our former student and still great friend of our team, Marcos García García, for his very interesting new output! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Animalising the Islamic Green Revolution: zooarchaeology and socio-ecological change in the Islamic Far West
The impact of the medieval Arab expansion on agriculture in the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Mediterranean was defined by Andrew M. Watson, 1974…
www.sciencedirect.com
December 22, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Congratulations to our former student and still great friend of our team, Marcos García García, for his very interesting new output! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Yesterday, as part of our RICHeS open day, we were delighted to welcome Dr Liz Quinlan from the University of Exeter 🐟
Liz’s project explores medieval to early modern freshwater and migratory fisheries, and our fish bone collection provides a valuable resource to support this exciting research.
Liz’s project explores medieval to early modern freshwater and migratory fisheries, and our fish bone collection provides a valuable resource to support this exciting research.
December 17, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Yesterday, as part of our RICHeS open day, we were delighted to welcome Dr Liz Quinlan from the University of Exeter 🐟
Liz’s project explores medieval to early modern freshwater and migratory fisheries, and our fish bone collection provides a valuable resource to support this exciting research.
Liz’s project explores medieval to early modern freshwater and migratory fisheries, and our fish bone collection provides a valuable resource to support this exciting research.
Great to welcome a former MSc student back to the Zooarch collection today 🦴
Alex Waterman completed his MSc with us a few years ago and now works as a field archaeologist at PCAS Archaeology. He made the most of the RICHeS open days to refresh his zooarch skills. Bravo, Alex!
Alex Waterman completed his MSc with us a few years ago and now works as a field archaeologist at PCAS Archaeology. He made the most of the RICHeS open days to refresh his zooarch skills. Bravo, Alex!
December 16, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Great to welcome a former MSc student back to the Zooarch collection today 🦴
Alex Waterman completed his MSc with us a few years ago and now works as a field archaeologist at PCAS Archaeology. He made the most of the RICHeS open days to refresh his zooarch skills. Bravo, Alex!
Alex Waterman completed his MSc with us a few years ago and now works as a field archaeologist at PCAS Archaeology. He made the most of the RICHeS open days to refresh his zooarch skills. Bravo, Alex!
We’re excited to share this fantastic conference, kindly brought to our attention by our former MSc Osteo student Klaudia Kvockova, who is now pursuing her PhD 🎓
This is a brilliant opportunity to meet like-minded researchers and discover exciting projects. Don’t miss out! www.iansa.eu/cea
This is a brilliant opportunity to meet like-minded researchers and discover exciting projects. Don’t miss out! www.iansa.eu/cea
www.iansa.eu
December 15, 2025 at 9:45 AM
We’re excited to share this fantastic conference, kindly brought to our attention by our former MSc Osteo student Klaudia Kvockova, who is now pursuing her PhD 🎓
This is a brilliant opportunity to meet like-minded researchers and discover exciting projects. Don’t miss out! www.iansa.eu/cea
This is a brilliant opportunity to meet like-minded researchers and discover exciting projects. Don’t miss out! www.iansa.eu/cea
Reposted by Zooarchaeology Lab Sheffield
Fantastic last day of @sheffielducu.bsky.social strike. Great speech by our president @davidhayes4.bsky.social. Disgust for the behaviour of the #Sheffield Uni management is growing. Great support from Students' Union, @greenparty.org.uk. Students & staff united in a common front. @ucu.org.uk
December 12, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Fantastic last day of @sheffielducu.bsky.social strike. Great speech by our president @davidhayes4.bsky.social. Disgust for the behaviour of the #Sheffield Uni management is growing. Great support from Students' Union, @greenparty.org.uk. Students & staff united in a common front. @ucu.org.uk
Reposted by Zooarchaeology Lab Sheffield
@ucu.org.uk striking staff at the Uni of Sheffield must deal with a confrontational management showing no interest in a fair-running Uni, but the students are with us! Join our mass picket (Arts Tower on Fri morning) & rally at 12 (Student Union's Concourse) @sheffielducu.bsky.social
December 10, 2025 at 11:03 AM
@ucu.org.uk striking staff at the Uni of Sheffield must deal with a confrontational management showing no interest in a fair-running Uni, but the students are with us! Join our mass picket (Arts Tower on Fri morning) & rally at 12 (Student Union's Concourse) @sheffielducu.bsky.social
A&K n.18! We were lucky to host Maaike Groot in Sheffield on a Marie Curie Fellowship a few years ago. A leading expert on Roman husbandry, she’s now building an outstanding zooarch lab at Freie Universität Berlin.
This piece is one of several outputs from her Sheffield work doi.org/10.1515/PZ-2...
This piece is one of several outputs from her Sheffield work doi.org/10.1515/PZ-2...
Cattle husbandry in the Iron Age and Roman Netherlands: chronological developments and regional differences in cattle frequencies, management, size and shape
Cattle are the dominant species in most archaeological sites in the Netherlands during the Iron Age and Roman period. However, there are differences in the relative importance of cattle and in how cat...
doi.org
December 9, 2025 at 5:44 AM
A&K n.18! We were lucky to host Maaike Groot in Sheffield on a Marie Curie Fellowship a few years ago. A leading expert on Roman husbandry, she’s now building an outstanding zooarch lab at Freie Universität Berlin.
This piece is one of several outputs from her Sheffield work doi.org/10.1515/PZ-2...
This piece is one of several outputs from her Sheffield work doi.org/10.1515/PZ-2...
Missed Alive & Kicking? Wait no more!
With A&K no. 17, we highlight the work of the brilliant Willie Mengoni, whose research has hugely advanced our understanding of camelid domestication in South America. 🦙✨. Here is the paper: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
With A&K no. 17, we highlight the work of the brilliant Willie Mengoni, whose research has hugely advanced our understanding of camelid domestication in South America. 🦙✨. Here is the paper: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Camelids in ancient Andean societies: A review of the zooarchaeological evidence
South American Camelids (SAC) have occupied a central role in the development of Andean societies, both for ancient hunter-gatherers and for more rece…
www.sciencedirect.com
December 3, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Missed Alive & Kicking? Wait no more!
With A&K no. 17, we highlight the work of the brilliant Willie Mengoni, whose research has hugely advanced our understanding of camelid domestication in South America. 🦙✨. Here is the paper: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
With A&K no. 17, we highlight the work of the brilliant Willie Mengoni, whose research has hugely advanced our understanding of camelid domestication in South America. 🦙✨. Here is the paper: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
With this week’s A&K n.16, we are returning to our lab’s activities to spotlight Dr. Mauro Rizzetto and his ground-breaking research on livestock changes during the late Roman–early medieval transition in Northwestern Europe.
Enjoy! link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Enjoy! link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Livestock size and the Roman-Early Anglo-Saxon transition: Britain in North-West Europe - Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
This study contributes to reconstruct the socio-economic dynamics of change at the Roman-Early Anglo-Saxon transition in Britain through zooarchaeological analysis. Contemporary assemblages from the n...
link.springer.com
November 28, 2025 at 4:10 PM
With this week’s A&K n.16, we are returning to our lab’s activities to spotlight Dr. Mauro Rizzetto and his ground-breaking research on livestock changes during the late Roman–early medieval transition in Northwestern Europe.
Enjoy! link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Enjoy! link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Reposted by Zooarchaeology Lab Sheffield
I hope that the Leicester management will learn the lesson from Sheffield and will avoid bringing shame to its university in front of the whole world. #SaveLeicesterGeography @jennypickerill.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk @leicesterucu.bsky.social @sheffielducu.bsky.social www.change.org/p/save-geogr...
Sign the Petition
Save Geography at the University of Leicester
www.change.org
November 24, 2025 at 9:07 PM
I hope that the Leicester management will learn the lesson from Sheffield and will avoid bringing shame to its university in front of the whole world. #SaveLeicesterGeography @jennypickerill.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk @leicesterucu.bsky.social @sheffielducu.bsky.social www.change.org/p/save-geogr...
A&K n.15 This time we spotlight Andy Hammon’s fascinating research, showing that improvements in Roman animal husbandry were virtually absent in western Britain — a striking reminder of how risky broad generalisations can be. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Understanding the Romano-British–Early Medieval Transition: A Zooarchaeological Perspective from Wroxeter (Viroconium Cornoviorum) | Britannia | Cambridge Core
Understanding the Romano-British–Early Medieval Transition: A Zooarchaeological Perspective from Wroxeter (Viroconium Cornoviorum) - Volume 42
www.cambridge.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:22 AM
A&K n.15 This time we spotlight Andy Hammon’s fascinating research, showing that improvements in Roman animal husbandry were virtually absent in western Britain — a striking reminder of how risky broad generalisations can be. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
A&K n.14 We return to the Sheffield team to highlight this paper by Idoia Grau Sologestoa who completed her PhD between the University of the Basque Country and the University of Sheffield. Idoia continues to be a leading light in medieval zooarchaeology.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Livestock management in Spain from Roman to post-medieval times: a biometrical analysis of cattle, sheep/goat and pig
The aim of this paper is to present the results of the biometrical analysis carried out on cattle, sheep/goat and pig measurements from a number of Sp…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:29 AM
A&K n.14 We return to the Sheffield team to highlight this paper by Idoia Grau Sologestoa who completed her PhD between the University of the Basque Country and the University of Sheffield. Idoia continues to be a leading light in medieval zooarchaeology.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
For A&K n.13 we would like to showcase this seminal paper on the study of colonial zooarchaeology. First author is Betsy Reitz, an absolute legend in the world of zooarchaeology, from whose work we have have all learned a lot. Paper here 👉 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Morphometric Data for Cattle from North America and the Caribbean Prior to the 1850s
An important aspect of early colonies was the adaptive response of domestic animals to new environments. This is reflected in zooarchaeological studie…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:17 AM
For A&K n.13 we would like to showcase this seminal paper on the study of colonial zooarchaeology. First author is Betsy Reitz, an absolute legend in the world of zooarchaeology, from whose work we have have all learned a lot. Paper here 👉 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Should anybody be interested, @umbertoalbarella.bsky.social will give a seminar at the University of Cambridge on Thursday at 4pm., which can be followed online too. Details here: talks.cam.ac.uk/talk/index/2...
talks.cam : Meat consumption and the shaping of a Romano-British culture
talks.cam.ac.uk
November 3, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Should anybody be interested, @umbertoalbarella.bsky.social will give a seminar at the University of Cambridge on Thursday at 4pm., which can be followed online too. Details here: talks.cam.ac.uk/talk/index/2...
Good to see our former MSc Osteoarchaeology student, @Megan Bieraugle, keeping busy! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Ageing dogs and wolves using x-ray micro-computed tomography (μ-CT): an application to canid remains from the Junction Site, Alberta, Canada
Evidence for relationships between people, dogs, and wolves can be found across much of the world. Methods for studying archaeological canid remains, …
www.sciencedirect.com
November 2, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Good to see our former MSc Osteoarchaeology student, @Megan Bieraugle, keeping busy! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Today we celebrate the work of one of our most dedicated members, Veronica Aniceti! 🎉
Her paper “Who’s Eating Pork?” has helped reshape our understanding of the pork taboo and the Islamic heritage of Sicily.
Enjoy the read! 🐖📖 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Her paper “Who’s Eating Pork?” has helped reshape our understanding of the pork taboo and the Islamic heritage of Sicily.
Enjoy the read! 🐖📖 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Who’s eating pork? Investigating pig breeding and consumption in Byzantine, Islamic and Norman/Aragonese Sicily (7th-14th c. AD)
This paper investigates the culture of pork consumption in Sicily by examining a number of archaeological faunal assemblages dated to chronological ph…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 28, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Today we celebrate the work of one of our most dedicated members, Veronica Aniceti! 🎉
Her paper “Who’s Eating Pork?” has helped reshape our understanding of the pork taboo and the Islamic heritage of Sicily.
Enjoy the read! 🐖📖 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Her paper “Who’s Eating Pork?” has helped reshape our understanding of the pork taboo and the Islamic heritage of Sicily.
Enjoy the read! 🐖📖 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
A&K 11 alert! We are delighted to highlight this very valuable compendium of zooarchaeological case studies across the world edited by Christina Giovas (Simon Fraser University, Vancouver) & Michelle LeFebvre (Florida Museum of Natural History). Enjoy! link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
Zooarchaeology in Practice
Zooarchaeology in Practice advances the methodological discussion beyond its present strictures by addressing the development of analytically sound
link.springer.com
October 22, 2025 at 3:15 PM
A&K 11 alert! We are delighted to highlight this very valuable compendium of zooarchaeological case studies across the world edited by Christina Giovas (Simon Fraser University, Vancouver) & Michelle LeFebvre (Florida Museum of Natural History). Enjoy! link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
🎉 Free Open Access Days!
Explore Sheffield’s 🌾 Archaeobotany & 🦴 Zooarchaeology collections through the SHEFF BIOARCH RICHeS (UKRI) project.
Consult, learn & photograph heritage materials — booking info below 👇
Explore Sheffield’s 🌾 Archaeobotany & 🦴 Zooarchaeology collections through the SHEFF BIOARCH RICHeS (UKRI) project.
Consult, learn & photograph heritage materials — booking info below 👇
October 20, 2025 at 8:28 AM
🎉 Free Open Access Days!
Explore Sheffield’s 🌾 Archaeobotany & 🦴 Zooarchaeology collections through the SHEFF BIOARCH RICHeS (UKRI) project.
Consult, learn & photograph heritage materials — booking info below 👇
Explore Sheffield’s 🌾 Archaeobotany & 🦴 Zooarchaeology collections through the SHEFF BIOARCH RICHeS (UKRI) project.
Consult, learn & photograph heritage materials — booking info below 👇