Archaeological science facilities

Bioarchaeology is the study of human skeletal remains and other biological materials - such as animal bones, insects and pollen - found on archaeological sites. We strive to understand all aspects of past human behaviour, including their health, diet and their living environment. We carry out detailed analysis of human and animal remains using macroscopic, microscopic, and chemical analyses within dedicated laboratory spaces, using a suite of advanced analytical equipment.

Sample preparation takes place in the Archaeology Department’s laboratories, with sample analysis carried out at Reading's state-of-the-art Chemical Analysis Facility (CAF). Archaeology researchers frequently use CAF facilities, for example NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, X-Ray diffraction and scattering, optical spectroscopy, thermal analysis and electron microscopy. Many of these facilities are available to colleagues from across the university, offering scope for interdisciplinary collaboration.

Geoarchaeology helps us to understand the sedimentary history of landscapes and sites, and the materials and technology used in buildings and artefacts, through the application of geological, soil and earth science techniques. It allows a deep-time perspective on interactions between humans and the environment, the sustainability of settlements and resource use, and living conditions and health. 

Settlement histories can be unravelled by identifying activity areas and examining site formation processes and preservation conditions. We have expertise in high-resolution micromorphological analysis of undisturbed sequences of soils and settlement deposits and materials in large resin-impregnated thin-sections. This strengthens our understanding of their composition, deposition and preservation conditions. 

We have dedicated laboratories for the extraction of macro- and microfossils from archaeological features (e.g. pits, ditches, hearths) and landscapes (e.g. bogs, lakes, caves). 

• Macrofossils provide key information on past economy and diet, as well as climate and environmental change, and the facilities permit extraction by flotation, wet sieving or dry sieving of charred and waterlogged plant remains, charcoal, insects, mollusca and animal bone.
• Microfossils provide important information on past climate and environmental change, as well as land-use histories, and the facilities permit extraction of pollen grains and spores, non-pollen palynomorphs (fungal spores), diatoms, phytoliths, Cladocera and testate amoebae.

We have an extensive range of field equipment including peat corers, column, bulk and Kubiena sampling, all suitable for subsequent laboratory assessment and analysis. To retrieve deeply buried sediments and soils we use portable deep drilling equipment (Atlas Copco 2-stroke percussion engine and Eijkelkamp window/windowless sampler) for continuous quality core samples up to 15m in depth.

We have an extensive range of high-quality microscopes and modern and fossil reference specimen collections for the analysis of these remains, housed in three dedicated laboratories. The labs have computing and photographic facilities that permit image capture and analysis, and graphical representation and statistical analysis of data.

Documenting past climate change and understanding how this has impacted humans is a fundamental part of our research at Reading, in collaboration with the departments of Geography, Environmental Science and Meteorology. Researchers come together at our Centre for Past Climate Change. Our contribution focuses on the last 11,700 years, with palaeoecological approaches being complemented by work such as data from the analysis of calcite deposited in stalactites in caves, or from shells and teeth in archaeological deposits, and through tree ring analysis in our dendrochronology laboratory.

The É«¹·µ¼º½'s Chemical Analysis Facility supports our research in archaeology, chemistry, pharmacy, food biosciences, soil sciences and agriculture. Facilities include nuclear magnetic resonance, thermal analysis, molecular spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and scattering, optical spectroscopy and mass spectrometry equipment and an electron microscopy laboratory. Access to the facility’s expertise and instruments is available to external collaborators as well as staff. .

Quest (Quaternary Scientific) is a commercial enterprise within our School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science (SAGES). It provides an expert Archaeological and Environmental Science service to archaeological units, environmental consultancies and government organisations. The specialist Quest team can manage pre-development investigation projects from initial set-up and design through to publication. The enterprise also has a network of specialist and technical staff that service all aspects of archaeological and environmental science contract work.