Graduation Week

Published on by GillianLeave a comment

Graduation week is always a special occasion in the academic calendar, one of my personal highlights towards this goal occurs in the final year as the science research project – students building confidence through development of laboratory skills and engaging with academic literature. One of the main research areas is decomposition, understanding bone diagenesis and factors which impact on this.

This year one of the Forensic Science students studying the decomposition of blood was Lucy Fox.  Lucy investigated the chemical changed that occur in blood once it has been deposited on a surface, comparing different types of animal blood, such as dog, horse and sheep. Understanding the chemical changes in blood is important to aid investigations in biomedical science and forensic science.

The best part in this report was the comment  ‘I loved being in the labs and particularly the chemistry side of the course.’ if only we could convert everyone to the love of decomposition chemistry..

Lucy Fox

http://www.tees.ac.uk/sections/news/pressreleases_story.cfm?story_id=6603&link=true&this_issue_title=July%202017&this_issue=290

Six months down; Plenty more research to go!

Published on by Gillian

Hello TUBA followers!

I’m Rhys, member and admin of TUBA, though I am often referred to as “the bone man” among TUBA members, readers, and other research groups. I have been a graduate tutor at Teesside University for six months. During this time, I have been teaching bone labs, writing articles, and researching and designing experiments for my PhD on the processes of diagenesis and preservation in bone. For more information on me, check out the ‘Meet the Team‘ page
For my first blog post, I’m going to share a little of these with you today. Keep tuned for more!

Continue reading “Six months down; Plenty more research to go!” →

Research Trip: Northampton Leather Course

Published on by Gillian

Hello TUBA blog readers and welcome!

My name is Hrafnhildur Helga, but I am known as Helga outside of my home in Iceland. I have been a PhD student at Teesside University in Northeast England for just around three months now and as such form one part of the TUBA team. My research is still in its early stages, but focuses on the leather shoes and burial environment of Roman Vindolanda. For more information on me, please check out the ‘meet the team‘ section of this website.
As part of my research, I am excited to introduce my first blog post of (hopefully) many, about a research trip I took last week to learn about leather manufacturing first hand.

Continue reading “Research Trip: Northampton Leather Course” →

Vindolanda’s feature in The Chronicle

Published on by Gillian

The impressive shoe collection at Vindolanda has been featured in an article by The Chronicle. Over 7,000 shoes so far have been excavated from Vindolanda, including indoor, outdoor, military, decorative, and child footwear. Despite this huge number, little is known about them and the residents of Vindolanda.

TUBA is currently investigating which animals were used to make the leather shoes, and whether they were sourced locally or imported. This will help to explain more of the history of Vindolanda and Roman Britain.

A very interesting read- follow this link or click the photo for more information!

 

Welcome!

Published on by Gillian

Welcome to the Teesside University Bioarchaeology (TUBA) blog

Bioarchaeology is the study of human remains and associated artefacts in the archeological context. TUBA is a unique group in archaeology by having members across a range of disciplines, including chemistry, microbiology, anthropology, archaeology, and ecology, among several others.

TUBA is currently researching the chemical and biological processes of diagenesis and preservation at Vindolanda, the infamous Roman military fort and World Heritage site located along Hadrian’s Wall. This will improve the management of unique environments and artefacts.

We look forward to showing you our experiments, findings, and updating you on other research that the team will be doing. Thank you for your visit!

TUBA

Vivianite on Wood

Published on by Gillian

This image shows the adherence of vivianite on wood recovered at Vindolanda.

Untreated wood normally degrades whilst buried due to rot and bacterial attack. The conditions at Vindolanda preserve wood exceptionally well. Vindolanda is known particularly well for its preservation of wooden tablets with handwritten correspondence. These adherence of vivianite into the wooden tablets seem to have helped preserve them over millennia of burial. TUBA is researching how vivianite adheres to wood, and how wood degrades at Vindolanda.

Vindolanda Site

Published on by Gillian

This image shows part of the excavations currently underway at Vindolanda.

Vindolanda is a Roman military fort and World Heritage site settlement located along Hadrian’s Wall, the furthest North that the Romans ventured. Vindolanda is a World Heritage site known for its excellent preservation of materials that degrade quickly at other sites. Vindolanda houses an impressive leather shoe collection, and wooden tablets containing some of the oldest handwritten letters in the UK. These are preserved so well because of the environmental conditions at Vindolanda. TUBA is investigating these conditions and why material is preserved so well, to then apply these processes to other forensic and archaeological investigations.

Vivianite on Teeth

Published on by Gillian

This image shows the adherence of vivianite to teeth, from a maxilla recovered at Vindolanda.

Vindolanda is known for its exceptional preservation of easily degradable material. Part of this is due to the formation of vivianite preserving material through a currently unknown function. The robusticity and nature of bone provides TUBA with material that can be manipulated extensively during the investigations of vivianite adherence and preservation at Vindolanda.

SEM Image of Vivianite

Published on by Gillian

This image shows the crystalline structure of vivianite, captured using scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

Vivianite (Fe3(PO4)2·8H2O) is a mineral that forms in anoxic environments, or rather, waterlogged soils with poor oxygen levels and sources of iron and phosphate. The conditions at Vindolanda promote vivianite formation. Vivianite is colourless until exposure to oxygen, when it quickly becomes a pale blue colour. TUBA is investigating why vivianite is so effective at preserving material excavated at Vindolanda.