Archeozoology Laboratory

The purpose of establishing the Archaeozoology Laboratory was to create a center in Krakow that would focus on fundamental research in the broad field of archaeozoology and taphonomy. Research conducted here encompasses animal remains of various ages discovered during stationary fieldwork conducted by scientific units, as well as salvage research. This includes both small assemblages discovered during archaeological supervision, as well as collections containing tens or even tens of thousands of animal remains. 

Our research encompasses all groups of vertebrate animals discovered during fieldwork, but primarily the most common remains of mammals and birds. For this purpose, comparative material from the collections of the Institute of Archaeological and Zoological Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Krakow is used. A key role of the Laboratory, in addition to conducting scientific research, is to gather osteological collections (included in the Scientific Collections of ISEA PAS), which are then used in planned interdisciplinary analyses encompassing zoology, archaeology, genetics, and geophysics. 

Besides the appropriate methodology, the research is supplemented by ancient DNA studies (conducted to understand the history of individual populations of farmed and wild animals in Poland and beyond), isotopic studies (helpful in studying animal migration and climate change), and seasonal studies (used by us to determine the period of site occupation – in the case of Pleistocene sites – and the management of farmed animal herds – for example, in the case of Neolithic sites). This research is conducted using the existing Molecular Techniques Laboratory at ISEA PAS and the Archaeozoology Laboratory itself.