Hello again,
I am about to start a pilot project (no pun intended) on
cetacean DNA (whales, dolphin and porpoise).
As part of the next stage I will be looking for material
from cetacea that date to the medieval or earlier contexts
from the UK/NW europe (not sure about NE USA yet). Later
material is also of use but, as some museums contain
material dating to 18th century onwards, I am less
concerned about finding archaeological material of that
date.
I am interested in all sites, although I do already know a
lot about material in scottish assemblages, I probably do
not know it all.
Part of this project seeks to identify the impact that
modern whaling had on the genetic diveristy of hunted
species. We are particuarly interested in right whales,
minke whales, pilot whales, sperm whales,fin whales and
killer whales although to be honest the identified remains
of any species (large or small) would be of use.
Another part of this project involves developing better
criteria for cetacean identification. So any relatively
complete materail, eg. vertebra, which has not yet been
identified may also be of interest in the longer term. Also
any reference to metrical/morphological identification
criteria would be gratefully recieved.
Thanks
jacqui
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Jacqui Mulville,
EH Regional Science Advisor (E. Mids)
Oxford University Museum,
Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PW
Tel: 01865-272996 Fax: 01865-272970
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