Fun fact: Birds of prey migrate using thermals—rising columns of warm air. They spiral up, then glide to the next thermal, saving energy along the way.
🦅 Question: What do we call it when a group of birds of prey spirals together in a thermal?
In the Zooarch Lab in Sheffield, we’re giving our bird skeletons a glow-up! 🦴🪶 Adding names and photos—because bones tell a story, but feathers & colors matter too.
Thanks to RICHeS for helping us!
Today’s focus: Accipitriformes.
With A&K n.28 we’re celebrating one of our key team members of the past decade — Matteo Bormetti 🎉
His latest paper, based on his PhD, explores the remarkable continuity of animal husbandry in later Iron Age Britain. Enjoy! 👉 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Mr Badger update! 🦡✨
Fresh from his Zooarch spa day, Mr Badger is clean, preened, and almost ready to join his forever home in our reference collection.
His bones tell their own story, with fractured ribs and femur, injury from a car encounter.
Next up: guinea pigs.. so stay tuned! 🐹
A&K n.27 is out! 🎉
This issue features the work of Gerhard Forstenpointner — a pioneer in the study of animal ritual in Archaic & Classical Greece. His research on Olympian sacrifice has shaped and inspired countless studies since.
Read it here:
www.academia.edu/33602301/Pro...
Lovely to welcome former Osteoarchaeology student Suzanne Gee back to the lab during our RICHeS Open Day!
Now working as a freelance osteoarchaeologist, she visited to refresh her zooarchaeology skills. Always proud to see our alumni thriving. Come back soon, Suzanne!
A bittersweet farewell to our brilliant colleague Stephanie Baron, forced out of our team by the University’s assault on archaeology.
We’ll miss her hugely — her work keeping our collections alive has been invaluable — but we’re glad she’s found a new role in the Library. They’re lucky to have her.
A&K n.26 is out now!
This post highlights the work of Chiara Corbino, a former Marie Curie Fellow with us. The featured paper was central to Chiara's fellowship project, but there’s much more to share about her work… Watch this space! www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...
🦜📚 A&K no. 25 celebrates the bird-focused books of Dale Serjeantson—essential reading for anyone studying bird bones from archaeological sites.
A few years ago we were proud to honour Dale’s work with a conference in Sheffield. The proceedings will appear in a future issue of Alive & Kicking.
Ever wondered what that mystery bone from your garden might be? Need to refresh your ID skills for animal or archaeobotanical remains? Work in an archaeological unit and want to use state-of-the-art zooarchaeology and archaeobotany collections? We got you covered!!
🦴🌱 Sheffield RICHeS Bioarchaeology Collections Open Days!
🌾 Archaeobotany: 10 & 24 Feb; 10 & 24 Mar; 14 & 28 Apr; 12 & 26 May
🦴 Zooarchaeology: 17 Feb; 3, 17 & 31 Mar; 21 Apr; 5 & 19 May
To book contact us at:
Archaeobotany → c.longford@sheffield.ac.uk
Zooarchaeology → l.salvagno@sheffield.ac.uk
This was a great conference to be involved with. The stuff I talked about wasn't necessarily pleasant, but I'm glad that I had the opportunity to discuss it. Many thanks to Abu Siddiq et al. for the invitation. @zooarchlabsheff.bsky.social
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFJv... #zooarchaeology
📸 New kit alert! 📸
Thanks to RICHeS funding, we have added a new Leica camera and 3D analysis software to our Bioarchaeology collections 🙌
Perfect for archaeobotany imaging 🌾 but also incredibly valuable for zooarchaeological research, particularly for exploring taphonomic factors.
The much-awaited A&K no. 24 is out! 🎉
It showcases the work of Angela Trentacoste, former Sheffield PhD student and now involved in countless exciting projects. This paper builds on her PhD research 👉 doi:10.1179/1461957115Y.0000000015
The International Council of Archaeozoology www.alexandriaarchive.org/icaz/ has published a statement to condemn the Gaza genocide. You can download it here (Newsletter p.7): www.alexandriaarchive.org/icaz/publica...
@archagainstaparth.bsky.social
@blacktrowel.bsky.social
@icaz-news.bsky.social
Really nice first day of the Mediterranean Zooarchaeology Symposium www.artuklu.edu.tr/medzooarch/a...
For A&K n.23, we are pleased to move to the Pacific Ocean for this interesting paper about mass fish capture! Check it out!
👉https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/arco.5320
Back to hands-on work after our move and reunited with a long-time freezer resident: Mr Badger 🦡
Once alive, now honoured for the contribution he’ll make to science. After a well-earned hot bath, Mr Badger will soon join our Zooarchaeology Research Collection.
CW: images show a deceased animal
A&K n.22. This work comes from a collaboration between two of our former Marie Curie postdocs, Claudia Minniti and Silvia Valenzuela-Lamas, now in Rome and Barcelona. They continue to be close collaborators and played a key role in building our team. Enjoy! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
As part of our A&K series (n.21) we are keen to promote the vibrancy of zooarchaeology across the world. This is a classic paper based on South Africa and Lesotho by Ina Plug, the inspirational pioneer of African zooarchaeology. 👉https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440396901533
Postdoc position available 👉https://www.fu-berlin.de/universitaet/beruf-karriere/jobs/english/GK-PRAEHIST-WiMi-Equiden.html
🐎 Excited to share a new project led by friend and colleague Maaike Groot at Freie Universität Berlin: “Management, supply and mobility of equids in the northwestern Roman Empire” (DFG-funded).
The project explores how horses and mules supported the Roman army.
Congratulations Maaike!!!
The wait is over 😉 A&K no. 20 is here!
Featuring Giorgos Kazantzis, former Sheffield MSc and PhD student, now researching and teaching in Greece. Still part of our team, always fondly remembered.
This innovative paper from his PhD deserves far more attention: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
#EAAforDemocracy Democracy is at stake at EAA: all archaeologists should be very concerned
A Special Meeting for members will take place on Jan 9th 2026 about the dysfunctioning of the current EAA leadership. See below:
A&K n.19 spotlights the work of Pam Crabtree, one of the most influential zooarchaeologists of the past few decades 🦴
Best known for her work at West Stow, this issue highlights her lesser-known but vital research on middle Saxon sites. Enjoy! eaareports.org.uk/publication/...
Congratulations to our former student and still great friend of our team, Marcos García García, for his very interesting new output! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Yesterday, as part of our RICHeS open day, we were delighted to welcome Dr Liz Quinlan from the University of Exeter 🐟
Liz’s project explores medieval to early modern freshwater and migratory fisheries, and our fish bone collection provides a valuable resource to support this exciting research.
Great to welcome a former MSc student back to the Zooarch collection today 🦴
Alex Waterman completed his MSc with us a few years ago and now works as a field archaeologist at PCAS Archaeology. He made the most of the RICHeS open days to refresh his zooarch skills. Bravo, Alex!
We’re excited to share this fantastic conference, kindly brought to our attention by our former MSc Osteo student Klaudia Kvockova, who is now pursuing her PhD 🎓
This is a brilliant opportunity to meet like-minded researchers and discover exciting projects. Don’t miss out! www.iansa.eu/cea
