Julia Best
I am a Post-Doctoral researcher at Bournemouth University on the AHRC-funded "Cultural and Scientific Perceptions of Human-Chicken Interactions" project. I am also a part-time lecturer in Bioarchaeology at Cardiff University.
The Chicken Project is a large, interdisciplinary project which integrates Archaeology, Anthropology and Scientific Analysis to investigate one of the most important but overlooked domestic animals: the chicken.
I am investigating the spread of domestic chickens in Europe and how they have been exploited in different periods and regions. As part of this my work involves collecting data from across Europe for inclusion in a large project database. I am also conducting research into the history of egg production, and working to refine and develop our knowledge of the formation, duration and extent of medullary bone in chickens.
My PhD in avian archaeology was awarded from Cardiff University in 2014. My doctoral research investigated the use of avian resources within the Scottish and wider North Atlantic Island environment via archaeological bone and eggshell. Birds can provide a range of products including meat, eggs and feathers, however their archaeological investigation has frequently been both overlooked, and limited in its extent and application. Collating Mesolithic to the Post-Medieval material pre-existing avian data and combining it with new, in-depth analyses allowed bird use though time and space to be reconstructed; firstly in the Scottish Islands (the primary area of study), and then contextualised within the wider tradition of fowling archaeologically and historically in Iceland and the Faroe Islands. My research has assimilated data and drawn interpretations on a more detailed and much wider temporal and geographical scale than had previously been attempted in this area, increasing our understanding of diet, wild resource exploitation, seasonal fowling activities, habitat use, and movement around the landscape.
Selected Papers Given
April 2015: Matters Most Fowl: Investigating Chickens in the archaeological record. Invited lecture at University College Dublin.
October 2014: A Flight Through Time: Birds in Archaeology. Invited lecture to the South Wessex Archaeological Association, Bournemouth.
Sept 2014: A Matter of Lay and Death: examining medullary bone in past and present chickens. International Conference of Archaeozoology, San Rafael, Argentina.
Sept 2014: Flock Together: large-scale analysis of avian resource use in the North Atlantic Islands. International Conference of Archaeozoology, San Rafael, Argentina.
Sept 2014: Birds in Death: Avian Archaeology and the Mortuary Record. European Association of Archaeologists conference in Istanbul.
June 2014: Chicken coop: A potted history of chickens. Bournemouth University Festival of Learning is run in association with Universities Week events (with Mark Maltby)
August 2012: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush: A temporal and geographic investigation of fowling in the Scottish islands via data collation and new analyses. The 7th ICAZ Bird Working Group Meeting, Isai, Romania.
Dec 2011: A Bird’s eye view: Interpreting landscape and environment use through avian remains. TAG, Birmingham.
October 2011: Between the Sea and Sky: The archaeology of avian resource exploitation in Scottish island environments. HOMER, Vannes, Brittany.
March 2011: Free as a bird: Exploiting a mobile wild resource in Scottish island landscapes. Socio-environmental dynamics over the last 12,000 years: the creation of landscapes, Kiel, Germany.
Dec 2010: Out on a Wing: Birds in liminal Scottish islands. TAG, Bristol
Sept 2010: Out on a Wing: Birds in Hebridean Island Archaeology. Hebridean Archaeology Forum, South Uist, Outer Hebrides.
August 2010 : Marine Matters: Challenging current views on subsistence in the North Atlantic Islands (with Jennifer Jones). International Council for Archaeozoology 11th International Conference, Pierre et Marie Curie University, Paris
May 2010: Fowl Play? The archaeological analysis of birds from Scottish island sites, Speaking of Science, Cardiff University.
April 2010: Puffins for Dinner: the varied role of seabirds in the diet of Scottish island populations, Food and Drink in Archaeology 4, University of Exeter.
August 2008: The Fowling Economies of the Shiant Isles, Outer Hebrides: resource exploitation in a marginal environment, The 6th ICAZ Bird Working Group Meeting, Groningen.
Other Interests
I am an active member of Guerilla Archaeology, a Cardiff based collective founded and directed by Dr Jacqui Mulville, which takes archaeology beyond the formal learning environment to a variety of festivals where we address a wide range of audiences.
Supervisors: Dr Mark Maltby and Dr Jacqui Mulville
Address: Department of Archaeology, Anthropology and Forensic Science,
Faculty of Science and Technology,
Bournemouth University,
Christchurch House,
Talbot Campus,
Poole, BH12 5BB
The Chicken Project is a large, interdisciplinary project which integrates Archaeology, Anthropology and Scientific Analysis to investigate one of the most important but overlooked domestic animals: the chicken.
I am investigating the spread of domestic chickens in Europe and how they have been exploited in different periods and regions. As part of this my work involves collecting data from across Europe for inclusion in a large project database. I am also conducting research into the history of egg production, and working to refine and develop our knowledge of the formation, duration and extent of medullary bone in chickens.
My PhD in avian archaeology was awarded from Cardiff University in 2014. My doctoral research investigated the use of avian resources within the Scottish and wider North Atlantic Island environment via archaeological bone and eggshell. Birds can provide a range of products including meat, eggs and feathers, however their archaeological investigation has frequently been both overlooked, and limited in its extent and application. Collating Mesolithic to the Post-Medieval material pre-existing avian data and combining it with new, in-depth analyses allowed bird use though time and space to be reconstructed; firstly in the Scottish Islands (the primary area of study), and then contextualised within the wider tradition of fowling archaeologically and historically in Iceland and the Faroe Islands. My research has assimilated data and drawn interpretations on a more detailed and much wider temporal and geographical scale than had previously been attempted in this area, increasing our understanding of diet, wild resource exploitation, seasonal fowling activities, habitat use, and movement around the landscape.
Selected Papers Given
April 2015: Matters Most Fowl: Investigating Chickens in the archaeological record. Invited lecture at University College Dublin.
October 2014: A Flight Through Time: Birds in Archaeology. Invited lecture to the South Wessex Archaeological Association, Bournemouth.
Sept 2014: A Matter of Lay and Death: examining medullary bone in past and present chickens. International Conference of Archaeozoology, San Rafael, Argentina.
Sept 2014: Flock Together: large-scale analysis of avian resource use in the North Atlantic Islands. International Conference of Archaeozoology, San Rafael, Argentina.
Sept 2014: Birds in Death: Avian Archaeology and the Mortuary Record. European Association of Archaeologists conference in Istanbul.
June 2014: Chicken coop: A potted history of chickens. Bournemouth University Festival of Learning is run in association with Universities Week events (with Mark Maltby)
August 2012: A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush: A temporal and geographic investigation of fowling in the Scottish islands via data collation and new analyses. The 7th ICAZ Bird Working Group Meeting, Isai, Romania.
Dec 2011: A Bird’s eye view: Interpreting landscape and environment use through avian remains. TAG, Birmingham.
October 2011: Between the Sea and Sky: The archaeology of avian resource exploitation in Scottish island environments. HOMER, Vannes, Brittany.
March 2011: Free as a bird: Exploiting a mobile wild resource in Scottish island landscapes. Socio-environmental dynamics over the last 12,000 years: the creation of landscapes, Kiel, Germany.
Dec 2010: Out on a Wing: Birds in liminal Scottish islands. TAG, Bristol
Sept 2010: Out on a Wing: Birds in Hebridean Island Archaeology. Hebridean Archaeology Forum, South Uist, Outer Hebrides.
August 2010 : Marine Matters: Challenging current views on subsistence in the North Atlantic Islands (with Jennifer Jones). International Council for Archaeozoology 11th International Conference, Pierre et Marie Curie University, Paris
May 2010: Fowl Play? The archaeological analysis of birds from Scottish island sites, Speaking of Science, Cardiff University.
April 2010: Puffins for Dinner: the varied role of seabirds in the diet of Scottish island populations, Food and Drink in Archaeology 4, University of Exeter.
August 2008: The Fowling Economies of the Shiant Isles, Outer Hebrides: resource exploitation in a marginal environment, The 6th ICAZ Bird Working Group Meeting, Groningen.
Other Interests
I am an active member of Guerilla Archaeology, a Cardiff based collective founded and directed by Dr Jacqui Mulville, which takes archaeology beyond the formal learning environment to a variety of festivals where we address a wide range of audiences.
Supervisors: Dr Mark Maltby and Dr Jacqui Mulville
Address: Department of Archaeology, Anthropology and Forensic Science,
Faculty of Science and Technology,
Bournemouth University,
Christchurch House,
Talbot Campus,
Poole, BH12 5BB
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Articles in peer-reviewed journals by Julia Best
Papers by Julia Best
http://www.prehistoricsociety.org/files/PAST_84_for_web.pdf
The chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) is our most widely distributed domestic animal, and occurs around the world in a broad range of ecosystems and societies. However, the chicken was a surprisingly late addition to the domestic menagerie. By combining archaeology, anthropology and scientific analyses, the AHRC-funded project “Cultural
and Scientific Perceptions of Human-Chicken Interactions” has been investigating the domestication, spread, uptake and subsequent uses of chickens across time and space.
Keywords
Birds; Seabirds; Fowling; Scottish Islands; Avian archaeology; Zooarchaeology
http://www.prehistoricsociety.org/files/PAST_84_for_web.pdf
The chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) is our most widely distributed domestic animal, and occurs around the world in a broad range of ecosystems and societies. However, the chicken was a surprisingly late addition to the domestic menagerie. By combining archaeology, anthropology and scientific analyses, the AHRC-funded project “Cultural
and Scientific Perceptions of Human-Chicken Interactions” has been investigating the domestication, spread, uptake and subsequent uses of chickens across time and space.
Keywords
Birds; Seabirds; Fowling; Scottish Islands; Avian archaeology; Zooarchaeology