Category: Bioarchaeology

Climate change upon leather artefacts

Published on by Gillian

In september (I know I am way behind updating!!), I was fortunate to attend ICOM-C.C Working Group on `Wet Organic Archaeological Materials´ 16th interim meeting in Gothenburg, Sweden, 15-19th of September 2025.

This was my first time presenting to ICOM – International Council of Museums and it was a great, firstly to meet potential new collaborators and secondly discussing techniques they use on objects.

The paper I presented was ‘Characterising the degradation of leather through the decades: Evidence from 50 years of excavations at Vindolanda Roman Fort’ You can read the paper here

At vindolanda we are lucky to have a collection that has been curated since the 1970’s and continues to this day, which means from a science view point, a great way to look across these samples for change. Unsure what we would originally find, the experimental work, compelted using pXRF, FTIR and SEM showed us changes were mainly observed in the 1990’s, through the loss of the collagen structure.

Even though the talk was leather focused, I included many aspects of our climate change work and especially the monitoring we are doing at the site of Vindolanda and Magna

ISBA – Turin

Published on by Gillian

Slightly later than planned, but Dr Caroline Orr and Dr Gillian Taylor (me!) attended the International symposium on Biomolecular Archaeology in Turin – 26th-29th August. Programme – ISBA 2025

After a fantastic journey through France we arrived at Turin, a city full of surprises. The range of talks and posters was marvellous, the cutting edge research and techniques makes this one the best conferences for biomolecular archaeology. Our contribution was a poster on our work at Magna Roman Fort and microbial dynamics (which I can safety say caroline knows much more about than me!)

Internship – Ali Hoekstra

Published on by Gillian

During spring, I had the opportunity to do a 10 week research assistant internship at Teesside University. The experience has been both challenging and rewarding, offering a real-world glimpse into the kind of work I would like to pursue with my Forensic Science degree.

My main focus was a research project investigating ancient Roman leather scraps recovered from the Vindolanda archaeological site, which involved the use of a variety of advanced analytical tools. I worked with equipment such as Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Visual Spectral Comparitor (VSC) as well as a SpecimIQ Hyperspectral Camera. Through this I developed skills in analytical techniques and even created my own protocols for certain parts of the project.

The SEM can be used to see things that are very very small and there is a whole world that you would not expect to see when you are looking so closely.

Zooming into the archaeological leather samples there is a landscape of texture and contours. Deep caverns open up and suddenly what with the naked eye was just a pattern, is a network of pores and skin creases. In the pores you find a collection of debris, presumably from where the samples had been buried,but move in closer and you might find evidence of single celled creatures with a silica cell wall – diatoms.

In the modern leather samples occasionally the roots of hairs were still in place even after going through the tanning processes. In some cases entire networks of mould had started to appear.

One of the biggest challenges was working independently and learning to troubleshoot issues on my own. This pushed me to become more self-reliant and confident in the lab. I also gained a clearer understanding of how scientific research works day-to-day, which has helped shape my thinking about future career paths.

I’m incredibly grateful to my supervisor and the lab technicians for their guidance and support throughout the internship. Their mentorship made a big difference and contributed greatly to what I took away from the experience.

Environmental Monitoring – Vindolanda

Published on by Gillian

In 2021 we started a journey of environmental monitoring at Vindolanda. The journey started with questions on what was happening across the site many years earlier, but the decision taken by the Vindolanda Trust to fully engaged in continuous environmental monitoring was bold and forward thinking.

I joined the Trustee board  in 2022 and followed the journey as projects have developed, including around climate change and art, artefact degradation and how this has impacted and shaped the strategic plan for the trust 2024-2034.

It was an absolute pleasure to see the new west gate entrance, where the underpinning science is presented to the public, through the amazing design capabilities of the Vindolanda trust staff.

2024 – more than 150 unprecedented climate disasters

Published on by Gillian

Two posts about climate in one day.. but it is that important for us to look at..

Publications of the ‘state of the global climate 2024’ today the 19th march
Key messages
  • Key climate change indicators again reach record levels
  • Long-term warming (averaged over decades) remains below 1.5°C
  • Sea-level rise and ocean warming irreversible for hundreds of years
  • Record greenhouse gas concentrations combined with El Niño and other factors to drive 2024 record heat
  • Early warnings and climate services are vital to protect communities and economies

This is a sobering yet fantastic read: state of the climate report 2024

There is a short commentary here – Floods, heatwaves and supercharged hurricanes occurred in hottest climate human society has ever experienced

Image: Coastal side of Skara Brae – Neolithic houses on a very exposed site, susceptible to coastal erosion

BBC Radio 3: Vindolanda Leather

Published on by Gillian

What I love about my job is the range of people I meet and the interest in my laboratory work.. had a lovely chat with Rose Ferraby who is the creator of the series Earthwork on BBC Radio 3. Rose was interested in our leather research work, this is conducted with Dr Elizabeth Greene, Western Ontaro. The chat was transcribed into a great programme which is part of the Earthworks series.. highly recommended for a 15 minutes break and a cup of tea.

The series of EarthWorks  aired the other week, but still available online

The link to the series is here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0015v2l/broadcasts/upcoming

The link to your episode is here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0026ykc

And the link to previous series of EarthWorks here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0015v2l/episodes/player

We all love leather shoes right…

New paper

Published on by Gillian

I know it has been a busy start to the new year.. second paper of the year..

This new paper, marks the last of the thesis paper from Dr C Bisker, Comparative soil bacterial metabarcoding after aboveground vs. subsurface decomposition of Mus musculus

Link: Comparative soil bacterial metabarcoding after aboveground vs. subsurface decomposition of Mus musculus | Scientific Reports

Abstract

Outdoor microcosms, metabarcoding with next-generation sequencing of the 16S rRNA bacterial gene, total body score (TBS) and physicochemical analyses were used to monitor Mus musculus decomposition aboveground (A) and in the subsurface (S), and compared to soil-only controls (C). As determined by MaAsLin2 analysis, significant shifts in bacterial communities at 30 cm depths within the A, S and C treatments distinguished control from experimental soils, and between aboveground and subsurface deposition, demonstrating the potential for gravesoil discrimination during the first 90 days. For example, Dokdonella (p = 0.0002), Edaphobaculum (p = 0.0004) and Lacibacter (p = 0.0034) recorded significant shifts relative to sampling time. Furthermore, Massilia (p = 0.0005), Mycobacterium (p = 0.0006) and Sandaracinus (p = 0.0007) increased in abundance for the aboveground mice treatments. This was confirmed with ANOSIM where p = 0.0082 showed statistically significant difference between the aboveground and subsurface deposition. TBS and physicochemical analyses suggested that nutrient release into the soils occurred during active decay and skin rapture on days 7–13 in the subsurface and days 13–20 aboveground, with a particular increase in soil potassium concentration on day 15. Significant differences in soil temperatures resulted between A and S vs. C microcosms, aligning with atmospheric temperature changes. In summary, complementary application of metabarcoding, total body score, exogenous and physicochemical methods for postmortem interval estimation and clandestine grave location highlighted the feasibility of using temperature records downloaded from meteorological stations and portable X-ray fluorescence as indicators for various phases of decomposition.

New Book published

Published on by Gillian

It is with great pleasure to announce the publication of a book chapter in:

The Bloomsbury Handbook of Experimental Approaches to Roman Archaeology

At the AIA I was able to finally to get my hands on it, as the first print run sold out..
the volume has some amazing chapters, including ‘Chapter 11: Roman Leather Manufacture and the Archaeological Record: An Experimental Approach
Hrafnhildur Helga Halldórsdóttir and Gillian Taylor (Teesside University, UK)’

Out of the lab.. Vindolanda shoes and Lepidina’s Slipper

Published on by Gillian

For two weeks only in January, the Vindolanda museum closes to allow cleaning and scheduled maintenance, but which also allows is in to take a closer look at items on display..

It was an absolute privilege to get a closer look at lepidina  slipper:  Here is a link to more shoes and information: This lady’s slipper was also found in the Cerialis’ house and is sometime affectionally called Lepidina’s slipper. It is the equivalent of a flip flop in design but a very expensive one at that. It was made in Gaul (modern France) by Lucius Aebutius Thales, we know this because he stamped the shoe with a maker’s mark. The shoe is further stamped with vine leaves and two cornucopiea interlocked across an ear of corn. Whether it was Lepindia’s or not it was definitely owned by a women who had money to spend on nice shoes. A simple breakage of the toe thong and she has thrown it away. Many other shoes from the site show evidence of repair but this one was discarded.