Have you ever wondered what it feels like to open a new box of bones for a zooarchaeologist? It depends on who you ask but for me it’s like Christmas. You’re hoping to get something (will there be interesting things? Maybe something exotic? Or will I find my favourite animal in there?) but you never know what you’re going to get until you unpack everything!
Some boxes may contain very well preserved and complete bones, others may contain mostly dirt and what I like to call “bone dust” and others are a mix of all those things… With the boxes I’ll be studying for the Viking Dogs Project, though, I know I’m going to get very interesting things and, of course, they are full of dogs!
Personally, it’s always a joy when I find dog bones, because they are not as common as one may think, and they come in so many shapes and sizes! Honestly, so much better than Christmas if you ask me…
