Department of Anthropology and Archaeology

Archaeology Laboratory & Equipment

Contacts: Dr. Alex Birkett, Prof. Mark Gillings and Prof. Stuart Prior

The department supports research focused on the collection, investigation, and analysis of a broad spectrum of archaeological materials and data. The Archaeology Laboratory & Equipment provides a dedicated space and comprehensive resources for these activities.

The Archaeology Laboratory serves as a central space for archaeological practices, including the conservation, analysis, processing, and identification of finds and materials. It is equipped for advanced digital techniques such as three-dimensional reconstructions, recordings, and analysis using photogrammetry, gaming technologies, geographical information systems (GIS) and computed tomography (CT Scan) data.

Our Geotechnical and Geospatial Survey Equipment provides the tools for detailed landscape investigation and analysis including high precision GNSS units and geophysical survey equipment. This includes an extensive collection of traditional manual surveying instruments, and state-of-the-art aerial survey equipment, and even laser scanning equipment for buildings and objects (in conjunction with the University’s Special Collections).

Beyond these core functions, the laboratory and its equipment are integral to undergraduate education, postgraduate research, collaborative research, and continued professional development, providing practical training in the basics of archaeological science, museum practices, and the analysis of land and landscapes

Osteology, Bioanthropology, and Archaeological Collections

Contacts: Dr Alex Birkett

The Department of Anthropology and Archaeology is home to a diverse and significant array of collections that support both teaching and a wide range of research endeavours. Our holdings include a substantial collection of archaeological material primarily from Bristol and the South West of England, with a particular focus on the Roman and Post-Medieval periods. Notably, we house an extensive collection of finds from the Royal Fort Gardens. For research purposes within the Archaeology Laboratory, a comprehensive reference collection of botanical specimens, microfaunal remains, pottery sherds, and lithic artifacts is readily available. Additionally, the Department curates a collection of Mediterranean materials, generously donated, which serves as a valuable resource for both student learning and specialized research projects. In-house lipid analysis can be conducted on relevant items within these collections.

 Furthermore, the Department manages one of the largest university collections of osteological material in Britain, comprising both human and animal bones. This collection is securely housed in a dedicated facility on campus and forms a crucial component of practical teaching for various undergraduate units, as well as providing essential material for student dissertations and postgraduate research. Our human skeletal collections offer unique insights into individuals from the South West and parts of the North East of England, spanning the Roman, Early Medieval, and Post-Medieval periods. The diverse origins of these remains, from friaries to infirmaries, present a broad spectrum for research, which can be further enhanced by the advanced analytical facilities within the Department, including traditional osteological analyses alongside specialized techniques such as micro-CT and isotopic analysis (in collaboration with [Geographical Sciences) and radiocarbon dating (via BRAMS).

 Many items within our collections are accessible for viewing through our online collections database seen here. Researchers interested in examining specific materials in person are invited to arrange a booking by contacting Dr Alex Birkett via email.

Archaeological Chemistry Laboratory

Contact: Dr Lucy Cramp

Our department contains our own archaeological chemistry facilities for the preparation and molecular analysis of bioarchaeological remains, including pottery lipids, bones and teeth. We have a sample preparation laboratory, a wet chemistry laboratory and a range of instrumentation, including an Agilent 6890 gas chromatograph, a ThermoFinnegan single-quadrupole gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer and a ThermoFinnegan Flash 1112 series elemental analyser for the measurement of bulk δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N isotope ratios. We work closely with the Organic Geochemistry Unit in the School of Chemistry, which hosts the Bristol node of the NERC National Environmental Isotopes Facility (NEIF), and houses a suite of cutting-edge analytical instrumentation, including for compound-specific stable light isotope analysis and high resolution gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Our facilities enable us to conduct research into the molecular fingerprints of organic traces surviving in the archaeological record, including invisible traces of foods absorbed into the fabric of pottery dating back thousands of years, and the isotopic composition of human and animal bones and teeth. Both approaches lend unique insights into past dietary and subsistence strategies and environments, enabling us to tackle questions from the nature of the earliest farming in Britain 6000 years ago, through to cultural and religious food-related practices in the past. For further information on the principles and best practice of organic residue analysis, see our freely-available guidance booklet commissioned by Historic England here.

In addition to postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers and academic staff, our undergraduate students, and interns from UoB and beyond, conduct research in these laboratories.

Bristol Radiocarbon Mass Spectometry Facility (BRAMS)

Contact: Dr Tim Knowles, Research Fellow and Facility manager

The state-of-the-art Bristol Radiocarbon Mass Spectrometry Facility (BRAMS), run by the School of Chemistry, is based in our department, and integrated with our Archaeological Chemistry Laboratory. The MICADAS accelerator mass spectrometer is a high-precision and compact instrument that is capable of measuring radiocarbon dates on even the tiniest of samples. It is capable of analysing samples as both graphite targets and CO₂ gas, with applications ranging from archaeology through to palaeoclimatology, past and present environmental studies, and geosciences. It is in these laboratories that the methodology to date preserved lipid (fat/oil) molecules captured in the walls of archaeological vessels was pioneered, enabling direct, accurate and reliable dating of ceramic use to be established. This facility forms the basis of important research programmes in the department and beyond, including Lucy Cramp’s Seascapes project, a major radiocarbon dating programme to trace the emergence and dynamics of early Bell Beaker maritime connectivity in the Mediterranean Copper Age through the dating of pottery lipids, and other short-lived archaeological samples.

Open Cultural and Linguistic Data Resources

Contact: Professor Fiona Jordan

Members of the Evolution of Cross-Cultural Diversity Lab (excd.org) work to make cultural and linguistic data systematic and openly available for comparative research. Since 2015, lab members have had funding from the European Research Council, Leverhulme Trust, US National Science Foundation, the Max Planck Society, and the British Academy to create data and methods resources.

Databases include:

D-PLACE: A Database of People, Languages, Culture, and Environment

CHIELD: The Causal Hypotheses in Evolutionary Linguistics Database

KINBANK: Global Database of Kinship Terminology

Methodological field-kits open on the Open Science Framework:

VARIKIN-Development: A Toolkit for Investigating Children's Acquisition of Kinship Concepts

In coming years these resources will include datasets on the world’s numeral systems (Numeralbank, as part of QUANTA) and ethnobotanical datasets from Nordic People and Plants.