PCAS Archaeology
From evaluations to excavations, PCAS Archaeology offers a range of services that help make sure planning regulations are met for new developments in areas that surveys show contain important archaeological remains.
Founded in 1993, the Lincoln-based company has served the needs of the construction industry for over 30 years while making sure archaeological standards and regulations are met.
To achieve this while preserving important discoveries that reveal a great deal about our past, the company often engages expertise from external sub-contractors.
Harnessing expertise through consultancy
Ahead of mineral extraction at Rectory Farm in Lincolnshire, PCAS Archaeology engaged the University of Sheffield on a consultancy basis. This work benefits both sides: PCAS Archaeology meets its regulatory obligations, the University generates revenue and early career researchers gain hands-on experience.
Professor Umberto Albarella, Chair in Zooarchaeology at the University of Sheffield, whose team led the zooarchaeological research, said: “This type of work gives our early career researchers invaluable experience, while benefiting the broader student community through access to a working laboratory and original archaeological material.”
“This is an important site, with fieldwork revealing insights from the Neolithic period right through to Medieval times,” Umberto continued.
“The most important of these in terms of consolidating and confirming our understanding of the history of the country is the period of the Roman occupation of Britain as that is the phase that has produced most of the animal bones.”
The process for researchers at the University began with the delivery of dozens of boxes of excavated animal bones to its laboratories to be catalogued, analysed and reported on. This painstaking work involved the sorting of animal bones, which are often broken into tiny fragments.
The work of identifying species follows with the aim of revealing the specific part of the animal from which the bone originated. From there, researchers identify the age and size of the animal as well as any marks that may have been left by people, such as traces left by butchery or cooking.
“We have a certain picture of how animals were used in this period and this type of work helps to confirm our understanding,” Umberto continued.
“In this case we saw further evidence that domestic animals were improved, such as cows becoming larger, which indicates that a lot was being invested in rearing larger cattle to produce meat to feed a growing population and a large army.
“This would likely have been achieved through introducing larger animals from the continent and investing in better food and conditions.”
The researchers’ findings also confirmed existing understandings of the period’s agricultural expansion, evidenced by animals used for farm work living longer than those butchered for meat.
Helping the company fulfil its obligations
For PCAS Archaeology, this important work helps the company to fulfil its obligations so that developers are able to extract the minerals that Britain needs. Development sites can often contain important remains and, as such, need careful management.
Colin Brown, a director of PCAS Archaeology, said: “We rely heavily on a range of sub-contractors and specialist organisations in order to reconstruct the daily activities of past human societies.
“Professor Umberto Albarella and his team provide invaluable information relating to the economic development of past societies by showing how animal husbandry evolved and improved through time.”