FROM SEALS TO SEAD : Preparing Osteological Data for the Strategic Environmental Archaeology Database

Sammanfattning

The Strategic Environmental Archaeology Database (SEAD) is an online research infrastructure that stores and disseminates data for environmental archaeology and Quaternary palaeoecology and works within the Swedish National Infrastructure for Digital Archaeology (SweDigArch). Because multiple lines of proxy are beneficial in broadening the complexity in environmental archaeological research, SEAD accommodates multiple lines of proxies, both biotic and abiotic. Currently, there are no osteological data in the database, which has the potential to further proxy analyses possible. This thesis explores the challenges in data normalisation of osteological remains of mammals in legacy data across several sites in Norrbotten and Västerbotten counties, northern Sweden. Osteometrics are difficult to translate into SEAD’s system, which may lead to certain environmental archaeological research questions—particularly diachronic morphological changes—left unanswered. Additionally, this thesis centres on the challenges of animal classification, critically evaluating the utility of ecocodes for mammals regarding plasticity and its intended purpose for researchers.