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Bird remains that are difficult to identify taxonomically using morphological methods, are common in the palaeontological record. Other types of challenging avian material include artefacts and food items from endangered taxa, as well as remains from aircraft strikes. We here present a DNA-based method that enables taxonomic identification of bird remains, even from material where the DNA is heavily degraded. The method is based on the amplification and sequencing of two short variable parts of the 16S region in the mitochondrial genome. To demonstrate the applicability of this approach, we evaluated the method on a set of Holocene and Late Pleistocene postcranial bird bones from several palaeontological and archaeological sites in Europe with good success.

Two farmsteads, one of late Iron Age (second-first centuries BC) date and the other dating to the early Romano-British period (first-second centuries AD), were excavated at Copse Farm, Oving. The site is situated within the Chichester dykes on the Sussex/Hampshire Coastal Plain. The Iron Age farmstead produced pottery spanning ‘saucepan’ and ‘Aylesford-Swarling’ traditions, a transition in ceramic production which is poorly understood in Sussex. Information on the agricultural economy and small-scale industries (principally metalworking) practised at this site give an insight into the way the Coastal Plain was settled and exploited at the end of the first millennium BC.

No abstract

During the winter of 1981/2 Giles Swift of the Wealden Iron Research Group discovered in a ploughed field on Great Cansiron Farm, Hartfield, East Sussex (TQ 45603835) an area of burnt clay and Roman tile, together with a few pieces of Roman pottery. The site, which lies close to a small stream, is located between an extensive Roman iron-working site to the south-west and possible large Roman iron-ore quarries to the north-east (FIG. 1). In advance of further plough damage, during the summer of 1982 the Field Archaeology Unit (Institute of Archaeology) undertook a trial excavation and survey in order to attempt to interpret and date the site more precisely. This work was funded by the Department of the Environment and East Sussex County Council. The 1982 investigations revealed a well-preserved Roman tile kiln and a rectangular floor of tile and burnt clay. Unfortunately extremely inclement weather during the second half of the excavation meant that it was impossible, given the time and resources available, to finish excavating either of these discoveries. The farmer, Mr Udell, kindly agreed to leave and plough around the excavation area and a second season of excavations was undertaken in 1983 thanks to the financial backing of East Sussex County Council and Keymer Handmade Clay Tiles of Burgess Hill, Sussex. In between the two excavations, staff of the Ancient Monuments Laboratory carried out a geophysical survey of the area to the west of the tile kiln.