Impact case study database

In the early 1990s the UK Government made it a legal obligation that when significant archaeological artefacts were found during building projects, archaeological assessments must be undertaken. At this time scientific analytical techniques, except for radiocarbon dating, were rarely employed. The widespread adoption of ORA by developers, driven by the UoB group and the increased cultural heritage information generated has changed substantially the practice of commercial archaeology in the UK and is now increasingly becoming used across Europe [A]. We document below how ORA techniques have been widely adopted by the commercial archaeology community and illustrate how major cultural heritage finds in the UK and internationally have followed, as a consequence of UoB research.

(I). Creating awareness in the commercial sector

In 2014 Evershed and Cramp approached Historic England (HE), as the public body charged with looking after England’s historic environment, with the idea of developing a guidance document for commercial developers. The aim was to make archaeological professionals aware of the potential of ORA for generating new cultural insights during post-excavation assessments. HE strongly supported the concept as biomolecular signals are widely preserved at archaeological sites and a rich source of information relating to the human past was, at that point, being lost.

Development of best practice for archaeological professionals

In 2015, Dunne drafted detailed guidance for commercial archaeologists in the use of ORA for the protection of cultural heritage. This guidance was formally adopted by HE in 2016 and published as two freely downloadable pdfs [B]. Co-designed with other expert groups, including the Medieval Pottery Research Group, Prehistoric Ceramics Research Group and academic practitioners of ORA at the Universities of York and Bradford, the guidance has become accepted as best practice by the commercial archeology community and has now been downloaded over 3500 times since publication [A].

Training sessions to promote awareness of ORA in the commercial sector

In 2017, Evershed and Dunne led a series of training sessions throughout the UK, organised and funded by HE, to promote the guidance to archaeological and heritage professionals. They were attended by more than one hundred delegates, including Archaeological Planning Officers from 21 county councils, representatives from the major UK commercial archaeological units (Wessex Archaeology, Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA), Oxford Archaeology), leading heritage organisations (National Trust, Vindolanda Charitable Trust, New Forest National Park Authority, Rubicon Heritage, Somerset Heritage Trust) and curators from Bristol City Museum and the National Museum of Wales. These training events were enthusiastically received, with the commercial archaeology professionals present remarking on the hitherto unappreciated potential of ORA for their work, e.g. “I ..came away with a much better understanding of organic residues and more aware of the benefits of carrying out such analysis.” [C] and “The Organic Residues and Pottery Production guidance will be added into our specifications for archaeological fieldwork and I will ensure that it is included in contractors Written Scheme of Investigation (WSIs)”. [C]

(II). Commercial deployment of ORA at over 60 UK sites since 2017

ORA has become a powerful new tool in the commercial archaeology community. To enhance the cultural benefits to stakeholders we have developed a commercial ORA service at Bristol. Recognizing our unique expertise, this is used by all major commercial archaeology units within the UK including: Wessex Archaeology, MOLA, Oxford Archaeology and other organisations including HE and the National Museums of Scotland and Ireland [D]. As a result of these training sessions (II) more than 60 commercial projects have been commissioned and completed [E]. This volume of work has led us to employ a dedicated full-time chemical analysis technician to carry out commercial analyses, with Julie Dunne acting as commercial manager, liaising with customers, interpreting results and writing reports for each project [E].

(III). Enhancing Cultural Heritage

ORA is now yielding an abundance of new discoveries revealing the rich cultural history of the British Isles and Europe. Notable recent examples include:

Dating the first farmers in prehistoric London to nearly 6,000 years ago

Excavations carried out by MOLA during the commercial redevelopment of the new Amazon Building in Shoreditch yielded an assemblage of pottery which provided the earliest evidence of Early Neolithic farming in London. ORA showed dairy products were processed in the pots. Jon Cotton, a consultant prehistorian working for MOLA commented “Organic residue analysis of this remarkable collection helps to fill a critical gap in London’s prehistory. Archaeological evidence for the period after farming arrived in Britain rarely survives in the capital, let alone still in-situ. This is the strongest evidence yet that people in the area later occupied by the city and its immediate hinterland were living a less mobile, farming-based lifestyle during the early Neolithic period” [F]. The discovery generated widespread media and public attention [F].

Locating Medieval Oxford’s Jewish community

Excavations in the historic heart of Oxford (undertaken by Oxford Archaeology) yielded remarkable evidence of 11^th-12^th century houses. Forensic-style ORA of pottery from the site revealed an absence of pork-derived chemicals which, together with assessments of animal bones, confirmed the presence of Oxford’s early medieval Jewish community, later expelled from England by Edward I. Investigations focussed on individual Jewish houses and showed for the first time the power of ORA to reveal the religious dietary practices of the occupants. Senior project manager for Oxford Archaeology, noted “Archaeological remains of the Jewish Quarter up til then had been very limited, and so the results of the residue analysis, which looked for traces of adherence to Jewish dietary laws, offered rare and stunning evidence” [Db] . This work [G] was featured in Current Archaeology, the popular archaeology magazine read by over 45,000 people monthly and was nominated for the Current Archaeology ‘rescue project of the year’ award [H].

Investigating the use of intricately decorated Bronze Age pottery vessels found across Ireland’s monumental megalithic landscape

Lipid analysis was carried out for the National Museum of Ireland on their remarkable collection of putative ‘Food Vessels’, notable because each vessel is decorated differently. Found in cist and passage tomb burials across Ireland, they have long been believed to have served some distinct purpose. ORA of 20 vessels showed all were used to process dairy products, such as milk, butter and cheese, demonstrating their specialist function. Evidence for milk production and processing is especially important in Ireland as animal bones rarely survive in the acid soils, so pots offer the only means of revealing ancient dairy practices.

These examples demonstrate how our commercial ORA projects, which have ranged from identifying ancient lamps at the Scottish Iron Age Broch at Clachtoll, Assynt [Ia] through to Bronze Age ‘fridges’ in Somerset [Ib] have generated widespread media attention and public interest (online articles and videos in The Independent, The Times, Smithsonian Magazine, YouTube and others [J]). ORA has ultimately enhanced the social and economic value of heritage assets and tourism across the length and breadth of the British Isles and beyond.