Setting people in their environment: plant and animal remains from Anglo-Scandinavian York

INTRODUCTION: For the past millennium, the inhabitants of the centre of York have, whether hey knew it or not, been living on top of a compost heap in which are preserved all kinds of remains of Anglo-Scandinavian and early post-conquest life. The preservation of this mass of organic matter has come about because, for reasons which are not fully understood, the deposits show anoxic waterlogging - in other words they have remained moist, and decay has been inhibited by lack of free oxygen. Later citizens must often have encountered these 'peaty' deposits and wondered about some of the more recognisable biological remains, as well as the numerous artefacts, surviving in them. However, it was not until the early 20th century that the value of all this material in investigating the past started to be appreciated

Evidence for tanning from plant and insect remains

[FIRST PARAGRAPH] It is suggested elsewhere (Hall and Kenward forthcoming) that a bioarchaeological 'indicator group' (sensa Kenward and Hall 1997) for tanning may be recognisable. The material giving rise to this hypothesis was discovered during assessment of samples from Anglo-Scandinavian and early post- Conquest riverside deposits at Layerthorpe Bridge, York (Carrott et al. 1997). Here, large quantities of bark fragments (and the sclereids -small clumps of lignified cells characteristic of certain trees, notably oak- left when bark decays) were recorded in many samples. These gave the suspicion that the bark was being employed for some purpose, since there was usually very little wood present with it. Much the most likely process to have required bark in bulk is tanning (taken here to represent the steeping of hides in pits or vats with tree bark). Support for this came from a somewhat surprising direction. The beetle Trox scaber was unusually abundant (it was found in 30 of the samples, at a frequency of 3-6 per sample when present; five samples contained 'several' individuals and one 'many’, on the semi-quantitative scale used for recording). This contrasts with the evidence from Anglo-Scandinavian Coppergate, where it was present in a large proportion (242) of the samples but was never abundant. There were only eight cases where three or four individuals were noted, the rest being ones or twos, and the mean number of individuals per sample where the beetle was present was 1.2 (AY 14/7; Kenward, unpublished database). Thus T. scaber was significantly more abundant at the Layerthorpe Bridge site than at Coppergate

Actively decaying or just poorly preserved? Can we tell when plant and invertebrate remains in urban archaeological deposits decayed?

We have recendy argued that poorly preserved delicate macrofossil remains of plants and invertebrates in near-surface deposits in York are in active decay, rather than being preserved in stasis, part-way down the decay trajectory. Observations of both archaeological and modern deposits suggest empirically that remains either survive for a long period (if conditions are conducive) or decay rapidly (if they are not). The hypothesis that very gradual decay has led to large numbers of deposits containing remains in a similar state appears illogical. It is more likely that, where poorly preserved biological remains are found, they either decayed in the past and then were stabilised when ground conditions became anoxic, or are currently in decay. Long-term patterns of decay cannot easily be investigated experimentally, but arguments concerning patterns and rates of decay can be. Apart from the question of in-ground preservation, understanding patterns of decay will allow us to address a range of taphonomic problems fundamental to drawing archaeological information from these remains

The bioarchaeology of Anglo-Saxon Yorkshire: present and future perspectives

The Anglo-Saxon period in Yorkshire - in terms of our knowledge of those questions which bioarchaeological studies are conventionally used to address - remains very much an unknown quantity, We can hardly claim even to know whether these questions are indeed appropriate in the Anglo-Saxon period. To some extent this reflects the nature of the Anglo-Saxon deposits so far encountered, in which preservation of the less durable organic remains has been very limited. The nature of Anglo-Saxon occupation, with a bias towards rural settlements of a kind whicb have generally left only faint traces in the ground, means that there are no deeply stratified richly organic deposits of the kind revealed in some Roman and Viking Age phases in major urban centres, of which only York is weIl known in the region. The Anglo-Saxon period thus presents exceptional challenges to the environmental archaeologist, and ones which closely parallel those for the Iron Age. It is a period for which the kind of assemblages traditionally provided by bioarchaeologica1 studies are most urgently needed, to define environment and land use, resource exploitation, living conditions, trade and exchange, as well as aspects of craft-working and industrial activities. In addition, the period in Yorkshire presents special problems concerning the status of individual rural or ecclesiastical settlements, particularly the nature of York as a possible wic. For the purposes of this paper (and in view of the complexities of the archaeology of the 5th to 11th centuries), we have elected to discuss only such biological material as .falls after the end of the Roman period (as generally accepted) and before the first significant waves of Scandinavian invasion in the mid 9th century

Biodiversity and ecosystem services in the Frome catchment, Purbeck district, United Kingdom

A map for valuing ecosystem services in the 480 km2 Frome catchment, to investigate scenarios of change in land use, was internet crowd-sourced. Scouts mapped deer habitats in 15% of the 30 km2 Arne Parish, while 143 residents volunteered data on deer sightings in the 5-year community survey

Online and Hybrid Instructional Design for Liaison Librarians: A New Certification Program

This chapter focuses on the development of a faculty development program for online and hybrid instruction, which was used to prepare and assist instruction librarians to teach online. This chapter was written to address a challenge many higher institutions face: how to provide quality training for instruction librarians wishing to support their faculty who are transitioning to hybrid or online teaching. We offer a brief overview of our four-week hybrid program, providing practical examples and outcomes of a productive collaboration between instructional designers and instruction librarians. Library integration into course management systems is not new. In 2004, Kearley and Phillips used the term “embedded librarian” to describe the practice of course-level participation in online classes. Literature searches on embedded librarians and support of online and hybrid courses reveal a steady trend in the growth of library instruction in the online classroom. York and Vance1 provide a thorough review of the professional literature regarding best practices in online library instruction. However, what made our experience different than just an “embedded” approach is that our instruction librarians received certification to be online/hybrid instructors in the exact same format with the same certification requirements as classroom faculty. That certification is officially recognized by the Registrar and Provost offices and puts our instruction librarians on equal footing with our classroom faculty. The program also provided a new venue for promoting liaison librarian services to faculty and helped put library services in front of online students right in their Blackboard course, at the point of need. Now that 100 percent of our liaison librarians are certified to teach online, the library can offer expanded online instructional services in a variety of innovative formats

Preliminary archaeoentomological analyses of permafrost-preserved cultural layers from the pre-contact Yup’ik Eskimo site of Nunalleq, Alaska : implications, potential and methodological considerations

Acknowledgements Site excavation and samples collection were conducted by archaeologists from the University of Aberdeen, with the help of archaeologists and student excavators from the University of Aberdeen University of Alaska Fairbanks and Bryn Mawr College, Kuskokwim Campus, College of Rural Alaska and residents of Quinhagak and Mekoryuk. This study is funded through AHRC grant to the project ‘Understanding Cultural Resilience and Climate Change on the Bering Sea through Yup’ik Ecological Knowledge, Lifeways, Learning and Archaeology’ to Rick Knecht, Kate Britton and Charlotta Hillderal (University of Aberdeen; AH/K006029/1). Thanks are due to Qanirtuuq Inc. and Quinhagak, Alaska for sampling permissions and to entomologists working at the CNC in Ottawa for allowing access to reference collections of beetles, lice and fleas. Yves Bousquet, Ales Smetana and Anthony E. Davies are specially acknowledged for their help with the identification of coleopteran specimens. Finally, we would also like to thank Scott Elias for useful comments on the original manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

A penalized framework for distributed lag non-linear models.

: Distributed lag non-linear models (DLNMs) are a modelling tool for describing potentially non-linear and delayed dependencies. Here, we illustrate an extension of the DLNM framework through the use of penalized splines within generalized additive models (GAM). This extension offers built-in model selection procedures and the possibility of accommodating assumptions on the shape of the lag structure through specific penalties. In addition, this framework includes, as special cases, simpler models previously proposed for linear relationships (DLMs). Alternative versions of penalized DLNMs are compared with each other and with the standard unpenalized version in a simulation study. Results show that this penalized extension to the DLNM class provides greater flexibility and improved inferential properties. The framework exploits recent theoretical developments of GAMs and is implemented using efficient routines within freely available software. Real-data applications are illustrated through two reproducible examples in time series and survival analysis.<br/

A novel causal mechanism for grey squirrel bark stripping: The Calcium Hypothesis

AbstractGrey squirrels, Sciurus carolinensis, damage trees in the UK by stripping bark and eating the underlying phloem; squirrel motivation for damage is, however, unknown. Damage can result in deterioration of timber quality and a significant economic toll on the forestry industry. Prediction of severe damage followed by targeted killing of squirrels is the current recommended management option. However, the use of warfarin (an anticoagulant poison) is now restricted in the UK and other more humane methods of killing are labour-intensive, so an alternative solution is needed. A better understanding of what motivates grey squirrels to strip bark may enable a preventive approach to be developed. Whilst the bark stripping literature has explored predictive factors affecting the likelihood of damage, causal understanding is lacking. The aim of this review is to introduce the Calcium Hypothesis as a possible explanation for bark stripping, with a view to informing the prevention of damage. The Calcium Hypothesis states that grey squirrels damage trees to ameliorate a calcium deficiency. The main predictive factors of bark stripping behaviour each inform and lend support to the Calcium Hypothesis. Calcium is stored in tree phloem, and damage increases with phloem width, providing squirrels with more calcium per unit area ingested. Calcium levels increase in trees as active growth resumes after winter dormancy, this occurs immediately prior to the main bark stripping season of May–July, and trees growing most vigorously are at increased risk of damage. It is likely grey squirrels also have a requirement for calcium during the bark stripping season. Adult females will be under post-parturition pressures such as lactation, and juveniles will be going through their main period of bone growth, both of which likely represent a requirement for calcium – which supports an observed positive correlation between juvenile abundance and bark stripping. A high autumnal seed crop increases juvenile recruitment the following spring, and could also induce a requirement for calcium to a population due to the high phosphorus to calcium ratio of seeds. To further investigate the hypothesis, the extent to which grey squirrels can utilise calcium oxalate, as calcium occurs in bark, should be determined, and also the extent to which grey squirrels undergo seasonal periods of calcium deficiency. Increasing our causal understanding of bark stripping could inform the future development of preventive measures to aid forest management