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Other research going on at the Uni of York:
Rachel L. Parks: A sea for all seasons: a zooarchaeological approach to “sedentism” in the early prehistory of Scotland
The idea of sedentary or semi-sedentary hunter-gatherers in Mesolithic Scotland has as yet found little supportive evidence. Incomplete evidence from the shell middens on Oronsay does point towards the possibility of year-round occupation on this island, based on a predominantly marine diet. The fish bone that could contribute to this interpretation remains only partly analysed.
My proposed research has two parts: data collection and model testing. The first part will draw on the existing, but largely unpublished bank of fish bone data available for early prehistoric Scotland, including Skara Brae from the Neolithic (Jones 1993, unpublished) and Sand from the Mesolithic (Gamble forthcoming). In addition to this material, permission has been granted for analysis of excavated but unrecorded fish bone assemblages from Orkney and Oronsay.
With the increased dataset I intend to compare the Mesolithic and Neolithic archaeo-ichthyological records and make an assessment of “sedentism” based on the presence or absence of several key criteria, including: seasonal evidence for year-round resource procurement, evidence of storage (evident in skeletal element patterning) and familiarity with local resources. In this working model, assemblages from Neolithic sites, interpreted as sedentary on the basis of other archaeological evidence, act as a control.
http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/arch/staff/Barrett.htm
R. Brian Rahn: Locational analysis(GIS) and the anthropology of Orcadian Iron Age society
My research aims to reconstruct Iron Age society in Orkney, as revealed through the development, elaboration and spread of monumental architecture. The Iron Age in northern Scotland is characterized by the construction of monumental dwellings of a defensive nature, known as brochs. Previous research suggests that brochs developed in an atmosphere of social competition, which saw monumental architecture used by incipient elites to solidify and assert their power. However, this research has generally not considered the setting of brochs within their wider landscape.
My project’s goal is to create a GIS model of Iron Age Orkney within which the landscape setting of brochs can be characterized with respect to a suite of environmental and social variables. Examination of these variables will permit a broader reconstruction of Iron Age society to take place, beyond the morphology of the broch and its immediate geographic position.
http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/arch/pgstudents/Rahn.htm
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