THE HISTORIC ENGLAND ZOOARCHAEOLOGY REFERENCE COLLECTION: DESCRIPTION AND LIST Polydora Baker, Eva Fairnell, Fay Worley SUMMARY This document lists the current holdings of the Historic England zooarchaeology reference collection held at Fort Cumberland, Portsmouth, UK. A total of 3308 specimens is listed, of which 2387 are complete skeletons. These include approximately 115 species of mammal, 220 species of bird, 9 species of reptile, 5 species of amphibian and 55 species of fish. The vertebrate skeleton reference collection is available for consultation: please refer to our access policy (http://www.historicengland.org.uk/research/approaches/research­ methods/Archaeology/zooarchaeology/). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The original collection list and description were compiled by Elaine Corke, Simon Davis and Sebastian Payne, and subsequently curated by Polydora Baker, Fay Worley, Mick Revill and Eva Fairnell. Complete specimen data recorded on individual paper records were added to the database by Gemma Ayton. We are grateful to Manny Lopez and Hugh Corley for IT support. COLLECTION LOCATION Historic England, Fort Cumberland, Fort Cumberland Rd, Portsmouth PO4 9LD, UK CONTACT DETAILS Zooarchaeology, Environmental Studies, Historic England, Fort Cumberland, Fort Cumberland Rd, Portsmouth PO4 9LD, UK Polydora Baker, Tel. 02392 856774. E-mail: [email protected] Fay Worley, Tel.: 02392 856789. E-mail: [email protected] 1 Historic England Zooarchaeology Reference Collection web list July 2020 INTRODUCTION The role of the Historic England Research Department vertebrate skeleton reference collection is to: • enable the identification and interpretation of animal remains from archaeological sites in England • provide comparative material for a long-term study of the development of the ‘traditional’ British domesticated animals • facilitate research on the biogeography of extinct and introduced species. Most specimens in this list are from the British Isles, although a small number come from other parts of the Palaearctic, Nearctic and other biogeographical regions. This list, an updated version of Baker et al. (2015) and Corke et al. (2002), aims to provide a general and rapid guide to our holdings. It is intended for zooarchaeologists working on British fauna and workers in other disciplines who may wish to consult our collection. The comprehensive collection is listed in a Microsoft Access database held at Fort Cumberland, and the metadata can be provided on request. The database holds all the available information for each specimen, including the locality from where it came, the criteria used to identify it, how and when it died, the preparation methods, donor and flock/field/ring number. This online collection list only displays selected categories of specimen information (see below); more information may be available via the National Zooarchaeological Reference Resource (NZRR; Fairnell and Orton 2017; https://doi.org/10.5284/1043267) and full information from Historic England. COLLECTION POLICY We continue to enlarge the collection and are very willing to exchange specimens; our list indicates which taxa we lack and those that are well-represented. We also have a ‘want’ list of specimens we wish to acquire and a list of specimens in our freezers awaiting preparation, which we are willing to exchange. LEGAL REQUIREMENTS AND LICENSES We abide by all health and safety regulations, including advice from DEFRA (in particular for fallen stock and zoonoses) and all CITES regulations. Historic England, Environmental Studies Branch is included in Annexe B of the Natural England License (Class) To possess and transport dead specimens of wild plant and animal species listed on Annex IV and II(b) of the Habitats Directive for scientific or educational purposes (CL01) (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/licence-to­ possess-plants-and-animals-for-scientific-purposes). 2 Historic England Zooarchaeology Reference Collection web list July 2020 THE COLLECTION All specimens in the collection are disarticulated. Most have been prepared by incubation in a solution of proteolytic enzyme (Baker et al. 2003; Davis and Payne 1992). The bulk of the collection is on open access in the Environmental Studies laboratory based at Fort Cumberland, Portsmouth. The table below gives the approximate numbers of specimens and number of species by class. The number of specimens includes entire and partial skeletons. Class Nspecimens Nspecies Fish 146 55 Amphibian 17 5 Reptile 15 9 Bird 1189 220 Mammal 1941 115 Total 3308 404 WEB LIST Information provided Up to 11 categories of information are included in this web list under the following headings. • Order. The taxonomic order used to produce the web list is taken from ITIS (2020). • Family. The taxonomic order used to produce the web list is taken from ITIS (2020). • Latin name. The taxonomic nomenclature used is taken from a variety of sources, full details below, and the taxonomic order from ITIS (2020). • Common name. European variations are included, as well as the English name, taken from a variety of sources, full details below. • Type. This column is used to indicate, where known, the breed for domestic animals, and a zoo-bred or laboratory-bred origin for wild species. • Sex. Where known, this column indicates sex as: c = castrate; f = female; m = male; zz = unknown. 3 Historic England Zooarchaeology Reference Collection web list July 2020 • Age. Where known, this column indicates age. Some of the laboratory and farm animals are aged to the nearest day or week. For fish the total length TL, in mm, is given in lieu of age when available. This is the distance between tip of snout and posterior edge of the caudal fin (see Wheeler and Jones 1989, fig 13.1). • Comp. This column indicates approximately how complete the specimen is. 1 = most or all bones and teeth are present; 2 = partial skeleton (in most cases includes the skull and a mandible, limb girdles, and one fore and one hind limb); 3 = skull and mandibles only; 4 = very incomplete; 5 = other; 6 = left (occasionally right) fore and hind main limb bones only; c refers to casts. • Locality. County, and island where relevant, are given for specimens from Britain, and country for specimens from overseas; greater detail is usually available. • HE#. All specimens are assigned a unique catalogue number. List order Each class is presented in a separate table, beginning with fish, then amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Within each class, the collection list is ordered alphabetically by order, family, genus and species (ITIS 2020). The list reflects super- and sub-divisions, but these are not shown (ITIS 2020). Users are advised to search on both scientific names and common names. Where known, each species is ordered further by type and then sex. Taxonomy and nomenclature In 2013–14, a review of the taxonomic nomenclature for all species within the database was undertaken. British texts and global online resources were used to research the most up-to-date scientific names: BOU (2013), Forese & Pauly (2014), Frost (2014), Eschmeyer (1980–2104), Gill & Donsker (2013), Harris & Yalden (2008), ITIS (2014), IUCN (2014), The Mammal Society (2014), Uetz & Jin Hosek (1995–2014), Wheeler & Jones (1989), Wilson & Reader (2005) and Yalden & Albarella (2009). There was not complete concordance between all these resources, a reflection of the fact that taxonomy is an ongoing field of research. An example of a species for which the binomial name used can vary is the pig (Sus scrofa/Sus domesticus), highlighting the zooarchaeological problem of the need to differentiate domestic species from their wild progenitors. In 2020, a further review of the scientific names was undertaken, using the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF Secretariat 2019). Where possible, the Latin names reflect the accepted species name listed by GBIF Secretariat (2019), while English names reflect those used by a variety of sources. 4 Historic England Zooarchaeology Reference Collection web list July 2020 REFERENCES Baker, P, Ayton, G, Fairnell, E, Worley, F and Revill, M 2015 The Historic England zooarchaeology reference collection: description and list. Portsmouth: Historic England Baker, P, Davis, S, Payne, S and Revill, M 2003 On preparing animal skeletons: a simple and effective method. ICAZ Newsletter 4, 4, 15 British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU) (2013) The British List: a checklist of birds of Britain, 8th edn. Ibis 155, 635–76 Corbet, G B and Hill, J E 1986 A World List of Mammalian Species, 2nd ed. London: British Museum (Natural History) Corke, E, Davis, S, Baker, P and Revill, M 2002 A list of vertebrate skeletons in the reference collection of the Centre for Archaeology, Portsmouth. Centre for Archaeology Report 20/2002. Portsmouth: English Heritage Davis, S and Payne, S 1992 ‘101 ways to deal with a dead hedgehog: notes on the preparation of disarticulated skeletons for zoo-archaeological use’. Circaea, The Journal of the Association for Environmental Archaeology 8, 95–104 Eschmeyer, W N 1980–2014 Catalog of Fishes: Genera, Species, References. San Francisco, CA: California Academy of Sciences. http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatmai n.asp, accessed November 2014 Fairnell, E and Orton, D 2017 National Zooarchaeological Reference Resource (NZRR) [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor]. https://doi.org/10.5284/1043267 Froese, R and Pauly, D 2014 FishBase. http://www.fishbase.org, accessed