Post by Ruth Carden
Many thanks to all who supported our crowdfunding campaign - you are all wonderful!
Combined with all funding to date, we have enough to radiocarbon date 38 archaeological dogs and 12 archaeological horses :) !!!
Additionally, €260 was raised for My Lovely Horse Rescue charity and €250 raised for Dogs Trust Ireland charity from our crowdfunder. An additional donation of €300 to each by Danu Raudh Teoranta, totalled donations to €560 and €550, respectively. AWOOOOO!!! Our archaeological dogs and horses paid it forward to their ancestors today.
Photo: puppy running through field and foal sitting in field (from Wix Media).
With thanks to all our sponsors and supports, we have a strong foundation to start this EPIC project and I will be seeking further funding from elsewhere next year.
If any commercial companies would like to get in touch, please email me directly at ruth.carden@ucd.ie and get involved in a brilliant archaeological project concerning our dogs' and horses' ancestors, supporting engagement with secondary schools.
Next steps...Phase III: late Sept to end November 2024
I will photograph every single Irish dog and horse bones and apply to the National Museum of Ireland for licences to sample and export to the various labs. This is time consuming, as the licences are hand written and I will make informed decisions on which sites/dogs we will target for this phase. The Museum may take up to 4 weeks to make decisions.
I will liaise with Clare, Terry and Pam about the British dogs/horses bones and identify which ones we will use from different sites, in terms of sampling and lab analysis.
I will be visiting the Ulster Museum in mid November and will discuss their sites and specimens available (wolves, dogs, horses).
Phase IV will start in early December (to April 2024), with the first sample batch from Ireland sent to the various labs for aDNA, stable isotopes and radiocarbon dating. There will be a second batch by March 2024 from Ireland. Thus, we will have some of our initial results back during the summer next year.
Meanwhile, the full genomics will take 3 years to complete but we will get the gender of the bones soon after they get the samples. In the meantime, the biometrical shape/size analysis, stable isotope results and the radiocarbon dating results will allow some of us to write some initial scientific journal papers and I can present and share some interim results next summer.
Depending on the results, this project may evolve even further, but time will tell. Sometimes, scientific research is like opening a can of worms, after the initial questions many more spring forth. This is a sign of a good research project, and I have no doubt this will be the case with this Viking-Age dogs and horses project.
Stay tuned for further updates in November 2024.
Photo: Two horses in a field (photo Wix Media).
Backer's Naming Rights for dogs/horses
For those who signed up for Backer's naming rights for either a archaeological dog or an archaeological horse. A email will be sent out to you requesting your chosen names, and these will be assigned to the licence applications and dogs/horses bones with sites. Remember names must be 8 characters or less and be safe for work. If deemed racist or derogatory in any way, you will be contacted to change your chosen name.
Further information will be provided to you once the licences have been approved, in case we need to change anything.
The webpage dedicated to the samples will be updated with your names and your chosen archaeological names, along with the details of the archaeological dog/horse by the end of November.
Finally....
Finally, many thanks again to those who have supported us so far and continue to do so.
There is still time to support us with the Backer's naming rights for dogs/horses, until they run out, on our website 'Shop'. Get them before they go!
All remaining merchandise will be posted out within the next two weeks (badges sets and A4 prints). Apologies for the delay in these, but they are coming!
Many thanks and best wishes,
Dr Ruth Carden
Principal Investigator
