Profiling commercial zooarchaeology

The majority of the zooarchaeological data now produced within Britain originates from commercial work. However, information regarding the profile of the zooarchaeological profession is very limited. In the most recent IFA 'Profiling the Profession' survey only four zooarchaeologists are included in the results (Aitchison and Edwards, 2008, 208-209).This may be because many zooarchaeologists only have a part-time role within units, work within universities or as freelance specialists and may have been included under broad specialist categories.

To gain further information regarding commercial zooarchaeologists in the United Kingdom, a survey was conducted between 1^st March and 30^th April 2009. The aim of this survey was to gather demographic and employment data from individual zooarchaeologists. The survey also investigated the effects of the current recession. A further follow-up survey took place between the 3rd and 14^th August 2009. The aim of this follow-up survey was to see if the effect of the recession on zooarchaeologists had changed between April and August 2009. All survey responses were completely confidential.

A summary of the results regarding the profile of zooarchaeologists, the effect of the recession and what help they may want was presented at the York AEA meeting 2009. To access the powerpoint presentation of that meeting please click here.

To download a pdf summary of the April survey please click here.

To download a pdf summary of the Aurgust survey please click here.

To download the comments for both surveys please click here.

In total 47 individuals participated in the April, and 33 the Aurgust survey. The survey revealed that active commercial zooarchaeologist have a wide age range, with an average of 35-42. This is similar to the average age of 38 for archaeologists, calculated by the latest IFA survey. The survey differs from the general archaeology results in regards to the sexual demographic. Archaeology remains a male dominated profession in the UK with 59% of practitioners being men. In comparison, zooarchaeology is a female dominated discipline with 66% and 75% of the April and August surveys respectively, being female. In terms of employment, 51% of the April survey participants state that commercial zooarchaeology is their primary role. The majority of zooarchaeologists are based in the commercial sector, with 42% and 25% either working for an archaeological unit or self-employed.

One of the surprising aspects of the survey concerned the number of projects and the volume of work commercial zooarchaeologists produce. The April participants were involved in a minimum of 506 projects, which included at least 68 interim reports, 254 MAP2 assessments, 85 full research reports and 55 publication reports.

Unfortunately the data did indicate that commercial zooarchaeology is being adversely affected by the current recession with 58% and 62% of the April and Aurgust participants stating they had been affected. Unsurprisingly the hardest hit were those working with commercial units and the self-employed. Not only were individuals being affected by a reduction in projects, but many had also been asked to reduce the cost and time it took to complete a project. Nearly 80% of the April participants based in commercial units were increasingly worried about their job security. In addition 33% of the August participants indicated that the situation had deteriorated since April. The August survey also indicated that since April four zooarchaeologists had been made redundant, two had their hours cut and a further two have had to take on additional archaeological duties.

As part of the April survey participants were asked what help they would like to receive if possible. These results indicated that help with access to reference faunal material, small grants for publications and a repository for sharing unpublished reports were the most requested. Additionally, a number of comments were made stating that access to publications were problematic as many commercially based zooarchaeologists do not have access to facilities such as Athens. In regards to the reference faunal material the English Heritage collection at Fort Cumberland, Portsmouth is available, although it may not be geographically convenient. Hopefully the AEA and ICAZ may consider starting up a small grants program similar to the one run by BABEO. Regarding grey literature it is possible for Zooarchaeologists to post the bibliographic details of their grey literature on the Environmental Archaeology Bibliography (please see the Professional Zooarchaeology Group for details).

As a result of this survey an additional service was set up, the zooarchaeology social network (nicknamed zoobook), which is a closed member’s only social network. Since it launched on 15^th August 2009 it now has over 350 members from across the globe. The network was established to allow the sharing of grey literature and other documents for research purposes. It works in conjunction with the zooarch mail-list and bonecommons. The site is a closed members only network to allow the sharing of documents that may not be posted openly on the internet. However, when no restrictions apply zooarchaeologists should consider posting their work on bonecommons.

If you have any questions regarding the survey then please feel free to contact me.

Aitchison, K. & Edwards, R. 2008. Archaeology Labour Market Intelligence: Profiling the Profession 2007-08. Reading, Institute of Field Archaeologists