Lee G. Broderick
I am a landscape zooarchaeologist and ethnoarchaeologist who is primarily interested in pastoralism, taphonomy, palaeoecology (including the interaction of environment and subsistence) and archaeological theory. I read archaeology at undergraduate level (BA (Hons) Exon.) before obtaining an MSc in Environmental Archaeology and Palaeoeconomy (Sheffield) and then studying for an MA in Cornish Studies (Exon.) and a PhD in archaeology (Ebor.).
My PhD examines the taphonomic pathways of faunal remains within mediaeval British cities, using Exeter as a case-study. I have previously been employed as a Research Assistant on the EcoSAL Interreg project at Bournemouth University, where my role was in helping to determine biodiversity in Atlantic salt-working sites, and I have worked as a visiting researcher in the archaeology department at the University of Sheffield as well as in the africana studies department at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.
I am currently involved in several research projects, details of which can be found on my own website (http://zooarchaeology.co.uk), including work in Mongolia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ethiopia and South Africa. I also work as an independent consultant and am always happy to discuss new projects.
Please note that if a published paper is not posted here then that is due to copyright restrictions - please feel free to email me for a copy of any of my papers. My unpublished reports are not posted here but can be found on my own website.
Supervisors: Prof. Terry O'Connor, Prof. Steve Roskams, and Dr. Ellie Hambleton
My PhD examines the taphonomic pathways of faunal remains within mediaeval British cities, using Exeter as a case-study. I have previously been employed as a Research Assistant on the EcoSAL Interreg project at Bournemouth University, where my role was in helping to determine biodiversity in Atlantic salt-working sites, and I have worked as a visiting researcher in the archaeology department at the University of Sheffield as well as in the africana studies department at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.
I am currently involved in several research projects, details of which can be found on my own website (http://zooarchaeology.co.uk), including work in Mongolia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ethiopia and South Africa. I also work as an independent consultant and am always happy to discuss new projects.
Please note that if a published paper is not posted here then that is due to copyright restrictions - please feel free to email me for a copy of any of my papers. My unpublished reports are not posted here but can be found on my own website.
Supervisors: Prof. Terry O'Connor, Prof. Steve Roskams, and Dr. Ellie Hambleton
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The integration of environmental and artefact assemblages is a central theme of these papers. Artefacts, animals and plants formed coherent assemblages in the medieval home, but as the result of archaeological analysis these are typically separated and considered in isolation. By considering these multiple strands of evidence as a whole, these papers present a considerably more nuanced and fine grained understanding of town life in medieval Europe than has been achieved through previous studies, centred on broad economic trends and urban topography. Drawing upon case studies from Britain, Ireland, the Mediterranean, Scandinavia and central Europe these papers present a truly pan-European understanding of what it was to be urban in the middle ages.
Papers by Lee G. Broderick
compilation of all the zooarchaeological material recovered from the Stone Age and Early Metal Period huntergatherer
sites in the area analysed and published up to 2014. All the faunal remains preserved in the acidic
soils are small pieces of calcined bone, except for two sites where anaerobic conditions have also preserved unburnt
bones. An overview of the analysed assemblages, including identified species and carcass treatment is presented,
and the chronological trends briefly summarised. Based on the zooarchaeological material the prehistoric
subsistence base was aquatically oriented throughout the Stone Age and Early Metal Period. Day-to-day subsistence
seems based on fishing near the campsites, supplemented with seasonal food sources. Prehistoric inhabitants
of Lake Ladoga were also committed to invest technology, time, and human resources in the specialised,
risky sealing forays. The abundant lake resources offered a stable, self-renewing resource base for the area's population
and, for example, fishing maintained its importance in subsistence even after the introduction of cultivation
– in places into the 20th century.
Архангай аймгийн Өндөр-Улаан сумын нутаг Хануйн хөндийд хэд хэдэн асар том хиригсүүр бий. Үүний нэг нь монгол нутаг дахь хамгийн томоохон хиригсүүрийн нэгэнд тооцогдох Урт булагийн амны хиригсүүр (KYR40) бөгөөд энэ дурсгалын орчимд Монгол-Америкийн хамтарсан “Хануйн хөндий” төслийн судалгааны баг 2011 онд малтан судалсан цагираг хэлбэрийн тахилгын байгууламжуудаас өндөр хэмд шатсан бог малын болон үхрийн ясны жижиг хугархай хэсгүүд гарсан билээ. Энэ нь монголын хиригсүүрийн судалгааны нэгэн асуудлыг шийдэх урьдчилсан боломжийг олгосон төдийгүй цагираг хэлбэрийн тахилгын байгууламж түүний үүрэг зориулалт, хиригсүүртэй хэрхэн холбогдох хамаарлын талаарх асуултууд руу хөтөлсөөр байна. Энэхүү өгүүлэлд дэвшүүлсэн үзэл санааны загвар нь цагираг хэлбэрийн тахилгын байгууламж нь томоохон хэмжээний нийтийн дурсгал болох хиригсүүр болон бусад дурсгалын орчин дахь “тахилга”-ын зан үйл болохыг илчилж байна. Ялангуяа орчин үеийн бөө мөргөлийн олон талын зорилго бүхий тахилгын зан үйлд бог мал болон үхрээр тахилга өргөх зан үйлтэй ижил төстэй байна.
Keywords: Bronze Age Central Mongolia; Mongolian Zooarchaeology; Mongolian Palaeoeconomy; Bronze Age Mongolian Economy; Khanuy Valley; Bronze Age Pastoralism
Whilst conducting ethnographic fieldwork in Ethiopia during 2008, many fully and partially articulated bovid skeletons were observed on the ground, and were reported buried. The reasons behind such methods of disposal were discussed with the local people and are here presented with reference to other examples, in the hope that they may aid future interpretation of archaeological sites and zooarchaeological assemblages as an analogue of use in a variety of temporal and climatic situations.
"
The integration of environmental and artefact assemblages is a central theme of these papers. Artefacts, animals and plants formed coherent assemblages in the medieval home, but as the result of archaeological analysis these are typically separated and considered in isolation. By considering these multiple strands of evidence as a whole, these papers present a considerably more nuanced and fine grained understanding of town life in medieval Europe than has been achieved through previous studies, centred on broad economic trends and urban topography. Drawing upon case studies from Britain, Ireland, the Mediterranean, Scandinavia and central Europe these papers present a truly pan-European understanding of what it was to be urban in the middle ages.
compilation of all the zooarchaeological material recovered from the Stone Age and Early Metal Period huntergatherer
sites in the area analysed and published up to 2014. All the faunal remains preserved in the acidic
soils are small pieces of calcined bone, except for two sites where anaerobic conditions have also preserved unburnt
bones. An overview of the analysed assemblages, including identified species and carcass treatment is presented,
and the chronological trends briefly summarised. Based on the zooarchaeological material the prehistoric
subsistence base was aquatically oriented throughout the Stone Age and Early Metal Period. Day-to-day subsistence
seems based on fishing near the campsites, supplemented with seasonal food sources. Prehistoric inhabitants
of Lake Ladoga were also committed to invest technology, time, and human resources in the specialised,
risky sealing forays. The abundant lake resources offered a stable, self-renewing resource base for the area's population
and, for example, fishing maintained its importance in subsistence even after the introduction of cultivation
– in places into the 20th century.
Архангай аймгийн Өндөр-Улаан сумын нутаг Хануйн хөндийд хэд хэдэн асар том хиригсүүр бий. Үүний нэг нь монгол нутаг дахь хамгийн томоохон хиригсүүрийн нэгэнд тооцогдох Урт булагийн амны хиригсүүр (KYR40) бөгөөд энэ дурсгалын орчимд Монгол-Америкийн хамтарсан “Хануйн хөндий” төслийн судалгааны баг 2011 онд малтан судалсан цагираг хэлбэрийн тахилгын байгууламжуудаас өндөр хэмд шатсан бог малын болон үхрийн ясны жижиг хугархай хэсгүүд гарсан билээ. Энэ нь монголын хиригсүүрийн судалгааны нэгэн асуудлыг шийдэх урьдчилсан боломжийг олгосон төдийгүй цагираг хэлбэрийн тахилгын байгууламж түүний үүрэг зориулалт, хиригсүүртэй хэрхэн холбогдох хамаарлын талаарх асуултууд руу хөтөлсөөр байна. Энэхүү өгүүлэлд дэвшүүлсэн үзэл санааны загвар нь цагираг хэлбэрийн тахилгын байгууламж нь томоохон хэмжээний нийтийн дурсгал болох хиригсүүр болон бусад дурсгалын орчин дахь “тахилга”-ын зан үйл болохыг илчилж байна. Ялангуяа орчин үеийн бөө мөргөлийн олон талын зорилго бүхий тахилгын зан үйлд бог мал болон үхрээр тахилга өргөх зан үйлтэй ижил төстэй байна.
Keywords: Bronze Age Central Mongolia; Mongolian Zooarchaeology; Mongolian Palaeoeconomy; Bronze Age Mongolian Economy; Khanuy Valley; Bronze Age Pastoralism
Whilst conducting ethnographic fieldwork in Ethiopia during 2008, many fully and partially articulated bovid skeletons were observed on the ground, and were reported buried. The reasons behind such methods of disposal were discussed with the local people and are here presented with reference to other examples, in the hope that they may aid future interpretation of archaeological sites and zooarchaeological assemblages as an analogue of use in a variety of temporal and climatic situations.
"
By adopting biographical theory, in particular chaîne opératoire, and incorporating it into taphonomic enquiry, it is possible to shed light on the complex network of social organisation and industrial activities that helped form an assemblage. Importantly, this means that pit and other deposits that are unrelated to any activity areas or buildings and which are poorly stratified or highly heterogeneous can be used to answer more questions than simple site-wide species or body-part proportional representation lists. This presentation revisits some of the Mediaeval assemblages from York in order to develop our understanding of life in the city through its zooarchaeology.
For zooarchaeologists in particular, if not for archaeologists in general, the unstratified pit deposit has often proven an inadequate record of urban life, contributing little more than contributions to amalgamated data. Much industry and commerce at this time though was based on animal products and the guild structures ensured consistent signatures of activity. By adopting chaîne opératoire theory in the interpretation of these assemblages it becomes possible to shed new light on the society that created them. Embracing this theory shifts the focus of interpretation from the assemblage to the processes that created it. Understanding these processes has important ramifications for our comprehension of everyday life – commercial, social and cultural – in past urban centres. This presentation explains the model’s underpinnings and explores its application through case-studies.
The Oyo Empire had its origins in the savannah region but expanded through effective governance and cavalry-based military tactics into the savannah/rainforest ecotone by the early seventeenth century. This remained the frontier of the polity until its decline in the early nineteenth century.
This paper presents zooarchaeological data from two sites on the very edge of that political and climatic divide, today situated within the rainforest. How did a complex society adapt to a different landscape? What resources were utilised by the sites’ inhabitants? Did they restrict themselves to the familiar or favour the exotic? Or utilise both biomes equally? Answering such questions can do much to progress our understanding of both West Africa and of African culture and resource use more generally.
Ethnoarchaeological and zooarchaeological studies indicate a system of subsistence focused on the seasonal exploitation of pastures and resources in the Bronze Age, with large monuments of that period at the centre of the seasonal migration paths. Many of these Bronze Age seasonal habitation sites are occupied today and, also, in the Iron Age. At that time though, the monumental focus of the region switches to the periphery and one area of the existing areas of habitation becomes exploited more intensively. From the end of the Iron Age, however, there are scant traces of occupation on the sites until the present day but there are archaeological indicators of habitation on the opposite edge of the region from the Iron Age monumental sites. Stable isotope analysis and regional palynological studies suggest that this shift in the human ecology of the region may coincide with a change in the climate and, thus represent adaptation to differing resource availability.
The research presented here then, presents a picture of a region in which changes in subsistence strategy have happened at least twice as a result of (or, at least, coincident with) local and regional climate change. At the same time, changes to the social dynamics of the population and to the corresponding strategies of resource use also occurred at least once within the same environmental constraints.
This paper presents new data which seeks to clarify some of these questions. Between 2010 and 2012 a number of stone circles were excavated in Central and Western Mongolia, principally in association with khirigsuurs but also some from deer-stone complexes. New mapping of large kihrigsuur complexes helps to situate the features in the landscape, and so suggest how they fit into people's lives, whilst systematic excavation has shed new light on the despotional circumstances. Finally, zooarchaeological analysis has revealed more precisely the contents of the stone circles.
This paper interprets the analysis of the animal bones from these sites to shed new light on the economy and lifestyle of the peoples associated with them: for the first time we can begin to glimpse a complex subsistence strategy which functioned in sympathy with the local environment. This strategy was to prove so successful that, once adopted, it changed little between the Bronze and Iron Ages and, indeed, through to the present day.
Ethnoarchaeological and zooarchaeological studies indicate a system of subsistence focused on the seasonal exploitation of pastures and resources in the Bronze Age, with large monuments of that period at the centre of the seasonal migration paths. Many of these Bronze Age seasonal habitation sites are occupied today and, also in the Iron Age. At that time though, the monumental focus of the region switches to the periphery and one area of the existing areas of habitation becomes exploited more intensively. From the end of the Iron Age, however, there are scant traces of occupation on the sites until the present day but there are archaeological indicators of habitation on the opposite edge of the region from the Iron Age monumental sites. Local and regional palynological studies suggest that this shift in the human ecology of the region may coincide with a change in the climate and, thus represent adaptation to differing resource availability.
The research presented here then, presents a picture of a region in which changes in subsistence strategy have happened at least twice as a result of (or, at least, coincident with) local and regional climate change. At the same time, changes to the social dynamics of the population and to the corresponding strategies of resource use also occurred at least once within the same environmental constraints, indicating that a degree of choice and cultural expression might always be evident in human ecologies.
"
Significant levels of burning pose specific problems of understanding for zooarchaeologists, who are forced to acknowledge real issues of equifinality in their interpretations. In order to better understand the role of burning in site and assemblage formation processes (and ultimately to gain insight into what this could tell us about the lives and activities of prehistoric people) an intensive ethnoarchaeological project was carried out. This project involved both interviews with people living in the same area and also survey and recording of present day campsites. The information gathered from the project has helped shape our explication of life in prehistoric Mongolia by shedding light on the purposes behind the burning of faunal material. This presentation aims to demonstrate the potential of the model for elucidation into faunal assemblages from elsewhere, through our Mongolian case-study.
The Archaeological Investigation of a "Moving Frontier" of Early Herding in Northern Tanzania project was conceived to identify sites in the northern most part of this corridor in order to test this theory and to examine issues of Neolithic – Hunter-Gatherer interaction. This presentation aims to highlight the on-going work to answer some of these questions through the initial results of the zooarchaeological analysis of the sites identified thus far.
Exeter is ideally suited for this kind of study, since it not only has a large faunal assemblage to draw upon, but also has a well-researched economic history and was, for a long time, one of the largest cities in England. The assemblage is also of significance to the wider region, which suffers from a dearth of archaeological faunal remains, due to the widespread occurrence of acid soils.
This presentation aims to bring new work on the zooarchaeology of Exeter, which builds upon the earlier work and compares and contrasts with urban zooarchaeological work elsewhere, to the attention of the archaeological community. Furthermore it highlights Exeter’s potential for understanding the economy of a developing city, from the Roman period through to the Early Modern, alongside illuminating our knowledge of the economy and ecology of the South West region."
The characterisation of archaeological sites by affluence and social standing is commonly accorded following analysis of zooarchaeological material and (sic) subsistence. This kind of classification has been successfully demonstrated numerous times on Mediaeval sites but presents specific problems on Mediaeval urban sites where the mixing of material from several different family (and thus social) units is probable.
This paper uses the zooarchaeological assemblage from Mediaeval Exeter (UK) to suggest that such considerations of social status may be applicable within urban assemblages, just as they are between rural assemblages. Individuals and families with the widest contacts and social and economic importance within a city’s region might be supposed to consume a greater proportion of higher status foodstuffs, such as wild animals in the Mediaeval period. Conversely, those of lowest status probably subsisted to a greater extent on what food they could produce themselves – within British Mediaeval cites this was most commonly the raising of pigs. Social and economic status in-between these two extremes could be characterised by the purchasing of livestock held to be common and low status in rural areas, such as cows and sheep, not raised within cities themselves.
The analysis of the urban zooarchaeological assemblage presented here aims to show the proportions of urban subsistence, hinterland subsistence and delicacy procurement within a city’s wider province, and hence the proportions of the population which might fall into the self-sufficient (producing) base, the procuring wealthy (with province-wide contacts and status) and those in-between – that is, those that ‘make do’ and those that ‘spend’. This kind of analysis, though stopping short of the identification of social units, may suggest the social balance characteristic of developing cities and the intra-urban subsistence and extra-urban surplus levels necessary for such a community – the demand-supply feedback loop which enables and drives the development of urban centres and their regions.
A literature review develops a hypothesis of transhumant pastoralism as a dominant economic component in Cornwall in the Early Mediaeval period and the case-study of Gwithian, analysed through the zooarchaeological study of its mammal bone assemblage, is used to test this hypothesis.
"
In this report, the economy and ecology of West Halton are reconstructed for each phase of occupation, finding that it was a relatively high status site in the Mediaeval period before going into decline in the Post-Mediaeval period. Comparisons are made with other known archaeological sites and the planned future work on the assemblage is discussed.
The relatively high status of Mediaeval West Halton is demonstrated though the presence of Oryctolagus cuniculus and of wild fauna. The possibility of the site being home to a Lady falconer in this period is suggested and the potentially significant find of Rattus in a Saxon period context is also discussed.
"
This report uses the animal bone assemblage from excavations at Queen St., Exeter, 1978 to append Maltby’s volume and as the basis for a critique of it. Methods used for the analysis of this assemblage are discussed and results and interpretations compared with Maltby’s and, where appropriate, with others from different cities.
"
Tanzania, surveys and excavations were conducted at the southern edge of the Mbulu
Plateau, documenting the presence of Narosura ceramics dating to the early third
millennium BP, as well as a Later Stone Age occupation dated via ostrich eggshell to
the tenth millennium BP. This marks the southernmost extent of the Pastoral Neolithic
in eastern Africa. The paucity of sites attributable to early herding in this area may be
due to a lack of survey in landscapes likely to have been preferred by livestock owners
and to extensive contemporary cultivation in those same areas. Links can be drawn
between the study area and previously documented sites with Narosura materials near
Lake Eyasi, and between the study area and obsidian sources in the Lake Naivasha
area of the Rift Valley, making the plateau and its surroundings a potentially promising
area for further research.
The Archaeological Investigation of a "Moving Frontier" of Early Herding in Northern Tanzania project was conceived to identify sites in the northern most part of this corridor in order to test this theory and to examine issues of Neolithic – Hunter-Gatherer interaction. This presentation aims to highlight the on-going work to answer some of these questions through the initial results of the zooarchaeological analysis of the sites identified thus far.
Significant levels of burning pose specific problems of understanding for zooarchaeologists, who are forced to acknowledge real issues of equifinality in their interpretations. In order to better understand the role of burning in site and assemblage formation processes (and ultimately to gain insight into what this could tell us about the lives and activities of prehistoric people) an intensive ethnoarchaeological project was carried out. This project involved both interviews with people living in the same area and also survey and recording of present day campsites. The information gathered from the project has helped shape our explication of life in prehistoric Mongolia by shedding light on the purposes behind the burning of faunal material. This presentation aims to demonstrate the potential of the model for elucidation into faunal assemblages from elsewhere, through our Mongolian case-study.