Sheffield Zooarchaeology Lab

18/06/2026

Our very own Just Justin and Tracy Platts have presented at the PZAF - Postgraduate ZooArchaeology Forum currently taking place in Lisbon. Congratulations guys and also to the organisers of what seems to be a very successful conference! International Council for Archaeozoology - ICAZ Save Sheffield Archaeology MSc Osteoarchaeology Sheffield Zooarchaeology Short Course Sheffield Zooarchaeology Twinning Zooarchaeology Network

17/06/2026

A familiar face returned to the lab yesterday for our Open Day! 🦴

Former student Josh Toulson, now working for CFA Archaeology, dropped by to make use of our Zooarchaeology Reference Collection. Josh was investigating animal bones from a medieval site and needed a second look at some tricky identifications.

It's always great to see our alumni putting their zooarchaeological skills into practice. Come back soon, Josh!

15/06/2026

For Alive & Kicking n.61 we feature the work of our good friend Louise Martin, and in particular her paper "GAZELLE (GAZELLA SPP.) BEHAVIOURAL ECOLOGY: PREDICTING ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR FOR PREHISTORIC ENVIRONMENTS IN SOUTH-WEST ASIA". Louise is a professor of Zooarchaeology at the University College in London and has been one of the main protagonists of the study of southwestern Asian zooarchaeology in the last few decades.
You can find details of the paper here:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-zoology/article/abs/gazelle-gazella-spp-behavioural-ecology-predicting-animal-behaviour-for-prehistoric-environments-in-southwest-asia/1799F0F1824FBC8739F61FBF75454F5D Sheffield Zooarchaeology Twinning Zooarchaeology Network Save Sheffield Archaeology

08/06/2026

Alive & Kicking n.60 takes us back to our team to feature once again Maaike Groot's work. This paper was prepared when she was a Marie Curie fellow in Sheffield. Maaike now works in Berlin but she remains in close contact with us and, although she only spent 1.5 years in Sheffield, her contribution to our team has been memorable and everlasting! She'll always be one of us!
The paper is open access here:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X20302078?via%3Dihub
Sheffield Zooarchaeology Twinning Save Sheffield Archaeology Zooarchaeology Network MSc Osteoarchaeology Sheffield Zooarchaeology Short Course

04/06/2026

It's beginning to feel a little like Christmas in the lab! 🎁📦

Thanks to RICHeS funding, we've just received some much-needed new storage cabinets and a selection of additional skeletons for our growing reference collection.

The new cabinets will provide a permanent home for part of our expanding bird skeletal collection, making specimens that were previously tucked away in boxes far more accessible for research, teaching, and outreach.

But the real question is... what's inside all those boxes? 👀

Rare birds? Curious bones? Something with an impressive beak? You'll have to wait and see!

Stay tuned for some exciting unboxing posts as we reveal the latest additions to the collection. 🦴🐦📸
Save Sheffield ArchaeologyMSc OsteoarchaeologySheffield Zooarchaeology Short CourseSheffield Zooarchaeology Twinning

03/06/2026

Fantastic news about the publication of this book combining two PZAF - Postgraduate ZooArchaeology Forum conferences and with heavy Sheffield Zooarchaeology Lab involvement, including Veronica Aniceti, Matteo Bormetti, Mauro Rizzetto, Helene Benkert, Claudia Minniti and Grazia Sergi 👏 Sheffield Zooarchaeology Twinning Save Sheffield Archaeology Zooarchaeology Network MSc Osteoarchaeology Sheffield Zooarchaeology Short Course International Council for Archaeozoology - ICAZ BAR Publishing

The papers in this volume represent a selection of early career zooarchaeological research originally presented at the 7th and 10th meetings of the Postgraduate ZooArchaeology Forum, held in Palermo in 2018 and in Zagreb in 2023. The decision to combine the papers from both meetings into a single pu...

01/06/2026

Alive and Kicking n.59 takes us to Turkey and the famous archaeological site of Çatalhöyük, to celebrate the work of Nerissa Russell, one of the most prominent zooarchaeologists of the last few decades. This paper is about cranes, some of the most graceful birds on Earth! Nerissa has of course published so much more in the last twenty years but we like going back to papers that people may have forgotten. In due time we'll showcase more of her work. Sheffield Zooarchaeology Twinning Zooarchaeology Network Save Sheffield Archaeology International Council for Archaeozoology - ICAZ

Dance of the Cranes: Crane symbolism at Çatalhöyük and beyond - Volume 77 Issue 297

27/05/2026

For Alive & Kicking n.58, we showcase our work on the seasonality of pig slaughter, which was part of the 'Feeding Stonehenge' project, and gave us the opportunity to propose a new method to record wear on pig teeth that can be applied to both lower and upper teeth. The work was spearheaded by Lizzie EW during her Masters' dissertation. Lizzie went on to do PhD and postdoc in Sheffield, postdocs in Basel and York, and has now been appointed as lecturer in zooarchaeology at the University of Cambridge. Good luck in your new job, Lizzie! Sheffield Zooarchaeology Twinning Save Sheffield Archaeology Zooarchaeology Network MSc Osteoarchaeology Sheffield Zooarchaeology Short Course
Have a look at the paper here, and ask us for a copy:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305440314003446?via%3Dihub