Pests or prey? Micromammal species within an ancient anthropic environment at the Norse settlement site of Tuquoy (Westray, Orkney)

Abstract

Micromammals, like rodents and shrews, adapt rapidly to take advantage of new food sources, habitats and ecological niches, frequently thriving in anthropogenic environments. Their remains, often retrieved during archaeological investigations, can be a valuable source of information about the past environmental conditions as well as interspecies interactions and human activity. However, the research on such finds rarely covers multiple approaches, often relying on single species or data type (e.g. identification/information for proxy studies). Here we investigate micromammal remains from the Norse and medieval (AD tenth-fourteenth centuries) archaeological site at Tuquoy, Orkney, to elucidate the relationships between micromammals, humans and other species present using a variety of data. Four micromammal species were identified, and their species dynamics as well as relationships with humans could be inferred by tracking changes in spatial and temporal location of remains, from their taphonomic history and by age estimation for individual animals. A larger, predatory assemblage was also identified, with species composition differing from that in the rest of the archaeological assemblage, and possibly therefore representing small mammal species composition in the wild. The assemblage was probably deposited by a diurnal raptor, though identification to species is not certain due to post-depositional processes.

Keywords: Orkney; archaeology; commensalism; introductions; micromammal; predation.

Figure 1.

Tuquoy. (a) Map showing the location and surviving extent of the site and (b) plan of the major structures investigated in the 1982–1983 excavation area. In (b), two phases are represented: Phase 3 (Episodes 4 and 6: construction and refurbishment of the hall) and Phase 4 (Episodes 9, 10, 13 and 14: construction and rebuilds of the workshop). © Historic Environment Scotland.

Figure 2.

Comparisons between three indices regarding proportions between different anatomical regions (a) and (b), and ratios of isolated (c) and broken (d) teeth. See table 1 for indices explanation. Selection of species taken from [28], pp. 209–213, selected data enclosed in the electronic supplementary material, S1, References.

Figure 3.

MNI values for specific species classes in relation to general location of the context (upper plot) and primary type of context (lower plot).

Figure 4.

Summary of molar tooth wear for murids found at Tuquoy, as frequency of species MNI.