Species Identification Using Zooms, with Reference to the Exploitation Of

DANISH JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY 2018, VOL. 7, NO. 2, 139–153 https://doi.org/10.1080/21662282.2018.1468154 RESEARCH ARTICLE Species identification using ZooMS, with reference to the exploitation of animal resources in the medieval town of Odense Luise Ørsted Brandta, Kirstine Haasea,b and Matthew J. Collins c,d aCentre for Urban Network Evolutions, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; bDepartment of Cultural Heritage, Odense City Museums, Odense, Denmark; cEvoGenomics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; dBioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, UK ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY ZooMS (Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry) is increasingly being used as a method for Received 30 January 2018 species identification of archaeological and historical remains. The method identifies species Accepted 19 April 2018 – from the peptide mass fingerprint of extracted collagen the principal protein of bone, ivory, KEYWORDS dentine, leather, and parchment. ZooMS has the advantages that it is a fast and simple method, ZooMS; species that requires only small sample sizes or even non-destructive sampling. The taxonomic resolution identification; collagen; of the method varies, but ZooMS is diagnostic for most domesticated animals and for the middle age; animal relatively depauperate Scandinavian fauna, although some groups (seals, martens) cannot be resources; long distance resolved, and it cannot discriminate some domesticates (dog, cattle) from their wild counterparts. trade; zooarchaeology; In this article, we overview the method and demonstrate the value of ZooMS and illustrate our archaeology points via a case study of 20 samples from 12th to 14th century layers in the Danish medieval town of Odense. Four artefacts were tested by a non-destructive eraser technique because of their uniqueness, but only one could be identified. The remaining 16 were identified following destructive analysis of the sample, one sample could not be identified. Through the identification of a gaming piece as walrus tusk the analysis demonstrated the long distance trade networks of Odense and the pursuit of some inhabitants for luxury products and high living standards. Conversely, the species identification of combs showed that the medieval comb maker would use the resources immediately available to him to create an affordable everyday object rather than rely on imported antler. Introduction amino acid sequence variation in the dominant structural protein, type I collagen, which is abun- The study of animal remains such as bones, skin, dant in bone, skin, and tissue, for species identifi- and fur in an archaeological context provides cation in Scandinavian archaeology. Since its insights into past relationships between animals, introduction, the method has reached maturity people, and the environment. Because of the mutual and is becoming increasingly popular within nature of these relationships, animal remains in con- archaeology as it is a cheap, easily applicable, and text have been used to address a wide range of minimally or even non-destructive method for aspects of the human past as amongst many others species identification (Fiddyment et al. 2015, diet, resource exploitation, animal domestication, Coutu et al. 2016). Moreover it has been demon- economy, environment, trade networks, and cultural strated to be an excellent method for screening identity, and the study is relevant across prehistoric large bone assemblages for specific species and historic periods, settlement types, and geogra- (Welker et al. 2016). phical regions (Steele 2015). Identifying the species In this article, we will introduce ZooMS and of animal remains is one of the key prerequisites for then present a case study in which the method discussing such aspects of human culture. has been used as part of an analysis of the 12th This article explores the protein fingerprinting to 14th century animal resources from the Danish methodology of ZooMS (Zooarchaeology by Mass town of Odense. Spectrometry, Buckley et al. 2009)whichuses CONTACT Luise Ørsted Brandt [email protected] Centre for Urban Network Evolutions (UrbNet), Aarhus University, Moesgaard Allé 20, 4230, 2nd floor, DK-8270 Højbjerg © 2018 The Partnership of the Danish Journal of Archaeology 140 L. Ø. BRANDT ET AL. The Scandinavian record therefore part of what characterises life in town. Describing these practices on best possible ground In many sites in Scandinavia, animal bones and skin will enable us to understand the dynamics that con- (rich in collagen) are common finds whereas fur and stituted life in the town and ultimately what makes woollen textiles (rich in keratin) are rare. In fact, animal town life different from other forms of existence bones (with waterlogged wood) are the most abundant (Christophersen 2015). In order to answer any of organic materials that we come across in urban excava- these questions, it is necessary to identify the species tions. They are often present in more or less every of the zooarchaeological material including the mate- cultural layer and deposited in every conceivable way; rial that is not identifiable through morphological from intact buried animals to fragments in the form of characteristics. ZooMS offers to do so in a way that dietary remains, waste from butchering, worked bone or is affordable, reliable, and within the scope of the antler, semi-manufactured artefacts and debris from Danish Museum Act. production, finished, discarded or lost artefacts, or reused animal bones in structures as fills. Because of its abundance and witness of multiple Species identification of animal remains processes, bone holds great interpretive potential, but it is also one of the most challenging to handle. This is Species identification of animal bones has tradi- not only due to the complicated processes related to its tionally been performed by osteological examina- use and deposition but also because of the circum- tions of the size, morphological characteristics, and stances that applies to most excavations in Denmark. surface features of bones that vary between species The majority of the archaeological excavations in (O´Connor 2000). This can lead to the determina- Denmark are rescue excavations that are conducted tion of the species of its origin by comparing the within the framework of the Danish Museum Act observed characteristics with characteristics on part 8.1 Thisentailseconomicrestrictionsandspecific bones of known species origin from reference col- guidelines with regards to the analysis of zooarchaeo- lections or animal bone atlases. These morphologi- logical material.2 In practice this implies that it is cal species identification methods are especially impossible to collect the preserved bone material in valuable in that they often provide additional infor- its entirety. The analyses that are carried out are mainly mation to the species, such as the bone element, sex quantitative in nature, where the number of bones, and age of the animal, pathology, traces of wear, species and sex identification, and their distribution and the preservation state of the object (Steele over time are accounted for. 2015). However, the success of osteological species One could argue that collecting all animal bones identification depends on the preservation of the from a site would be a senseless endeavour, since the diagnostic characteristics of bones and the oppor- excavated material already only represents a part of tunity to identify them. Diagnostic characteristics the original bone assemblage due to selection pro- may be lost due to, for instance, processing bones cesses in the past and the following taphonomic for consumption, working bone into artefacts, processes (Orton 2012). An analysis of the zooarch- taphonomicprocessessuchasweatheringand aeological material from any archaeological site will gnawing or diagenetic processes following burial always have to consider sample bias and fragmented (Lee Lyman 1994). If some animal bones are more material. This makes it even more important to heavily processed than others, their importance consider all available information from the archae- may be overlooked as their fragments may be less ological record. Only then it is possible to answer recognisable. Even for well-preserved bones, both questions such as: What animals provided the raw wild and domesticated species may display signifi- materials for both food and manufacture of arte- cant variations of bone elements within a species facts? Were they local or not? Were some animals for instance between males and females and preferred over others? And for what purpose? These between different populations (Hillson 1992). This questions are especially pertinent to the medieval means that considerable expertise is required for town, since the use of animal resources are part of reliable identifications, but also access to reference the economy that sustained life in the town and collections encompassing all such interspecies DANISH JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY 141 variations. The last is further a challenge as some than this, proteins can be tissue and developmentally species are known to have changed morphologically specific, and the study above provided additional over the past millennia and during domestication. information on the use of young (calf) skin for one Examples of this is a great diversity of horns in of the capes (Brandt et al. 2014). Both NGS-based cattle, sheep, and goat after domestication and a DNA approaches and proteomics

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