Thesis (M.S.) in Quaternary and Climate Studies--University of Maine, 2004. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 141-167).

The field of human-animal relations is a growing area of research, and with regard to the Viking Age the majority of this research has concerned the Scandinavian homelands. Scotland has been recognised as important in the widespread migration of the Vikings, yet subject to little theoretical enquiry. This thesis represents the first in-depth social zooarchaeological evaluation of the Scottish material to determine to what extent animals played a structuring role in the settlement of Scotland, and the ways in which the Vikings in Scotland understood and negotiated their world. A further aim was to assess the potential of a social zooarchaeological study in understanding Viking identity in Scotland, and to determine the use of animals as social expression in the context of the wider socio-political climate of Scotland. A review of faunal assemblages from published and unpublished settlement sites across the Norse inhabited regions of Scotland was conducted and a comprehensive database of Viking burials compiled, to characterise the nature of human-animal relationships in Scotland, comparable to the Scandinavian homelands and Late Iron Age Scotland. Data analysis highlighted the complexity of human-animal relationships, illustrating that such relationships were transported, acquired and developed, and for which there was regional variation. Through applying a theoretical approach, it is concluded that human-animal relations functioned in strategic ways. Thus, this thesis addresses wider questions concerning continuity, interaction, disruption and the importation of tradition into Scandinavian Scotland whereby animals were a means of negotiating and defining human-human relations.

No description available.

No description available.

No

No / Digitised Diseases is a new web resource which contains photo-realistic 3D models of bones, together with detailed descriptions, clinical synopses, radiographs and CT data. The images give broad coverage of disease conditions affecting the human skeleton. The project – a collaboration between the University of Bradford, Museum of London Archaeology and the Royal College of Surgeons of England – came about following recognition of conflict between the requirements of researchers and students and the need to preserve collections of material; repeated handling of the bones can cause appreciable damage. This article explains the importance of archaeological and historical specimens for modern medical research and training, and thus the usefulness of the project, which makes a huge amount of data freely available; it also describes some of the collections that have been digitised.

No

No

No

No