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Search Results
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Journal article
Emergence and ecological transition of the Mesozoic marine reptiles: Evidence from the Early Triassic Chaohu and the Middle Triassic Xingyi Faunas
Two major evolutionary events in the early history of Mesozoic marine reptiles have been recorded in the Triassic of China. The first event evidenced by the Early Triassic Chaohu Fauna was the emergence of new marine communities and their subsequent radiation in the Spathian Subage of the late Olenekian (Early...Jiang, Da-yong ; Zhou, Min ; Motani, Ryosuke ; Tintori, Andrea ; Fraser, Nicholas C …
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Journal article
Middle and Upper Ordovician linguliformean and craniiformean brachiopods from the Brabant Massif, Belgium: Infaunal giants, encrusting forms and durophagy
Linguliformean and craniiformean brachiopods from the Middle and Upper Ordovician of the Brabant Massif (Belgium) are described for the first time and their palaeoecological and palaeobiogeographical implications are discussed. The restricted and generally poorly preserved material was collected from the Abbaye de Villers (Dapingian–Darriwilian) Formation and from the Katian Huet...Candela, Yves ; Mottequin, Bernard
Linguliformean and craniiformean brachiopods , palaeobiogeographical , Middle and Upper Ordovician, Brabant Massif , and palaeoecological
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Journal article
Stable isotope ecology and interspecific dietary overlap among dolphins in the Northeast Atlantic
Dolphins are mobile apex marine predators. Over the past three decades, warm-water adapted dolphin species (short-beaked common and striped) have expanded their ranges northward and become increasingly abundant in British waters. Meanwhile, cold-water adapted dolphins (white-beaked and Atlantic white-sided) abundance trends are decreasing, with evidence of the distribution of white-beaked...Plint, Tessa ; ten Doeschate, Mariel T I ; Brownlow, Andrew C ; Davison, Nicholas J ; Hantke, Georg …
stable isotope, Northeast Atlantic, Scotland, dolphin, dietary overlap, and niche
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Journal article
Assessing the identity of rare historical museum specimens of the extinct blue antelope (Hippotragus leucophaeus) using an ancient DNA approach
The blue antelope or bluebuck ( ) is an extinct species of antelope that lived in South Africa until ca. 1799–1800. Disappearing only 34 years after it was described, it was the first large African mammal species to have become extinct in recent times. Therefore, current scientific knowledge of the... -
Journal article
On the “screamer-like” birds from the British London Clay: An archaic anseriform-galliform mosaic and a non-galloanserine “barb-necked” species of Perplexicervix
We revisit recently described putative anseriform birds from the early Eocene London Clay of Walton-on-the-Naze (Essex, UK). Phylogenetically relevant skeletal elements of Danielsavis nazensis Houde et al., 2023 are reported that were omitted from the original description, including the pterygoids and palatines. We detail that anseriform affinities of D. nazensis...Mayr, Gerald ; Carrió, Vicen ; Kitchener, Andrew C
Aves, new family, Walton-on-the-Naze, new species, and fossil birds
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Book
Preliminary investigation into the threat of Bronze Birch Borer (BBB - Agrilus anxius) to Scotland
This report details findings and recommendations from a year-long project investigating the threat that bronze birch borer (BBB, Agrilus anxius) poses to Scotland. The project concentrated on three areas: the current and potential distribution of Agrilus species in Scotland, potential BBB entry pathways, and BBB surveillance methods.Dainton, Katrina ; Pollard, Chris ; Trotter, Felix ; Paterson, Alaina ; Dunn, Michael …
bronze birch borer, Agrilus species , invasive species, and Scotland
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Journal article
Can modern technology uncover the secrets of evolution?
A mysterious group of fossils called the Elgin Reptiles has been puzzling scientists for centuries. Existing only as cavities hidden within rocks, these fossils could help scientists unravel the mysteries of evolution. Thanks to modern technologies, Dr Davide Foffa, a research associate at National Museums Scotland, and his colleagues have...Foffa, Davide
Palaeoecology, lagerpetids, Vertebrate Palaeontology, μCT scanning , Elgin Reptiles, Scleromochlus , and Palaeobiology
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Lecture
Moray's Contribution to Pangaea and Triassic Park
Join Dr Nick Fraser as he explored Moray's Contribution to Pangaea and Triassic Park. The Triassic was a critical time for the evolution of life on Earth. This period witnessed the first appearance of some of the most successful animals that ever lived, including lizards, dinosaurs, turtles and crocodilians, the...Fraser, Nicholas C
fossils, Elgin reptiles, palaeontology, Triassic period, and evolution
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Journal article
Early Eocene fossils elucidate the evolutionary history of the Charadriiformes (shorebirds and allies)
We report charadriiform and charadriiform-like birds from the early Eocene London Clay of Walton-on-the-Naze (Essex, UK). A partial skeleton of a small modern-type charadriiform is described as a new species, n. gen. n. sp., and most closely resembles taxa of the Charadrii (plovers, stilts, oystercatchers, and other “wader-like” shorebirds). Affinities...Mayr, Gerald ; Kitchener, Andrew C
charadriiform bird, Walton-on-the-Naze, fossil record, early Paleogene , and Eocene London Clay
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Abstract
Piecing together Baltic amber fungus gnats: a comprehensive review and material assessment
Fungus gnats (Diptera, Sciaroidea) represent the largest group in the fossil record and are among the most diverse groups of living flies. The Mycetophilidae family alone comprises approximately 400 described fossil species (surpassed only by Limoniidae) in 126 genera. The majority of these species were described from Baltic amber by...Blagoderov, Vladimir ; Evenhuis, Neal L
Baltic amber, Eocene, fungus gnats, and Sciaroidea
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Journal article
The Scottish transport and industry collections knowledge network (STICK)
The Scottish Transport and Industry Collections Knowledge Network (STICK) brings together a range of organisations and individuals who share a common interest in transport and industrial collections and promoting their care and enjoyment. While a multi-disciplinary steering group drives it forward, STICK is its members and their passion and knowledge....Swinbank, Ellie ; National Museums Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1JF, United Kingdom
Industry, Transport, Training, Network, and Collections
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Journal article
Dr Allen David Cumming Simpson, 13 December 1947-3 December 2022
Allen Simpson was born in Edinburgh, went to school there, attended the University of Edinburgh, worked there, married and raised a family, and finally died there. He worked at what eventually became National Museums Scotland between 1970 to 1998, as an Assistant Keeper, and subsequently, Curator and Principal Curator in...Morrison-Low, Alison
curatorial research, Scottish weights and measures, Science & Technology, obituary, National Museums Scotland, Department of Technology, and Royal Museum of Scotland
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Conference paper (unpublished)
Buying Power: British Archaeology and the Antiquities Market 1880 – 1939
This project is the first to focus on how archaeologists involved in British-led excavations in Egypt and Sudan were entangled with the antiquities market and how this impacts what we see today in museums across the world. It will examine how and why archaeologists bought and sold objects, how they...Potter, Daniel M
colonial collecting practices, Archaeologists , Egypt and Sudan, British-led excavations, antiques market, and colonial histories and legacies
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Book chapter
Towards an Ontology of Pre-20th Century Scientific Instrument Types
This paper introduces the project Tools of Knowledge: Modelling the Scientific Instrument Trade, 1550–1914, and focuses on our ongoing development of an ontology to represent knowledge about scientific instrument types produced during this period. After a brief introduction, we discuss the background to the project and a summary of previous...Middle, Sarah ; Butterworth, Alex
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Presentation
Tools of Knowledge: Modelling the Scientific Instrument Trade, 1550–1914, January 2021 - December 2023 & How Did We Get Here? Transitioning the Communities & Crowds Project to Zooniverse (Digital Intersections Around Science Collections – online conference sessions)
The first part, drawing on the Tools of Knowledge project, will explore how digital methods and tools can capture, model and visualise the ‘lives’, or itineraries, of scientific instruments. It will introduce Voyages in Time, a volunteer transcription project on Zooniverse.org created with Royal Museums Greenwich, which provides data on... -
Abstract
From There to Posterity: Modelling Diverse Itineraries of Scientific Instruments
It is reasonable to claim that there are few types of historical artefact more complex or consequent than the scientific instruments of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In them are encoded generations of craft knowledge, while individually and in combination they enabled new vistas of knowledge production, real and figurative,...Middle, Sarah ; Butterworth, Alex ; Higgitt, Rebekah
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Abstract
Identifying community requirements for Linked Humanities Data infrastructures
It is likely that the application of LOD approaches to the Humanities will result in large, rich, heterogeneous datasets with huge research potential, but in turn raise a considerable challenge: how can these datasets be managed and published in forms that are flexible, scalable, interoperable and, critically, usable and sustainable?...Middle, Sarah ; Hay, Duncan ; Butterworth, Alex
research project, Pelagios community, data, and Digital Humanities
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Abstract
How to collect a crisis: Displaying and collecting COVID-19
COVID-19 is not the first, nor will it be the last, global pandemic or health crisis. The Influenza pandemic of 1918 killed an estimate 50 million people worldwide and had far reaching impact and consequences. However, in the National Museums Scotland collection, made up of 12 million objects, only two...Goggins, Sophie
personal stories, scientific and medical objects , global pandemic , COVID-19, museum collections, and material culture
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Journal article
Not so hidden messages
The written word is a powerful and persuasive tool that can inspire and revolt in equal measure. Equally, jewellery has the power to spread messages and has been used for generations to declare an individual’s position of allegiance or defiance. By incorporating a message, slogan or symbol, a jewel becomes...Rothwell, Sarah
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Book chapter
Building a dual dataset of text- and image-grounded conversations and summarisation in Gàidhlig (Scottish Gaelic)
Gàidhlig (Scottish Gaelic; gd) is spoken by about 57k people in Scotland,1 but remains an under-resourced language with respect to natural language processing in general and natural language generation (NLG) in particular. To address this gap, we developed the first datasets for Scottish Gaelic NLG, collecting both conversational and summarisation... -
Journal article
Palaeogenomic Evidence for the Long-Term Reproductive Isolation Between Wild and Domestic Cats
Domestic cats were derived from the Near Eastern wildcat (Felis lybica), after which they dispersed with people into Europe. As they did so, it is possible that they interbred with the indigenous population of European wildcats (Felis silvestris). Gene flow between incoming domestic animals and closely related indigenous wild species...Jamieson, Alexandra ; Carmagnini, Alberto ; Howard-McCombe, Jo ; Doherty, Sean ; Hirons, Alexandra …
domestication, palaeogenomics, and cats
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Abstract
Fragmented metalwork hoards as a selective practice in Late Bronze Age north-western Europe
Hoards of fragmented metalwork are often seen as one of the defining practices of Late Bronze Age communities in Europe. Such hoards have attracted much attention with debates around how and why metalwork was broken and buried. Were hoards abandoned scrap? Or was there a ritual aspect? Although it is...Knight, Matthew G
Europe, communities , Hoards, Late Bronze Age , and fragmented metalwork
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Journal article
Revealing observatory networks through object stories: Observatory audiences
Like the contributions to the other papers in this collection (‘Object itineraries’ and ‘Instrumental networks’), those in this final section explore instrumental networks and object itineraries in order to tell new histories of observatory sites and their associated networks. (For a discussion of the genesis and thinking behind the collection... -
Journal article
Revealing observatory networks through object stories: Introduction
This paper introduces a group of three articles that bring together object stories relating to observatory history and networks. The three articles (‘Instrumental networks’, ‘Object itineraries’ and ‘Observatory audiences’) each bring together three object stories by different authors that contribute to the article theme. Here the genesis of the collection...Higgitt, Rebekah
object stories, observatory sites, astronomy, networks, collections, object biography, scientific instruments, object itineraries, Time, observatory sciences, and observatories
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Abstract
The long, strange journey of Viking-age ringed pins
Ringed pins are the calling card of the Viking Age in Britain and Ireland: small, low-value metal cloak fasteners, found in dressed burials, and frequently encountered as stray finds. They have a complex trajectory, beginning as Irish dress items in the pre-Viking period. From the middle of the ninth century,...Maldonado, Adrián
death rituals, Viking Age in Britain and Ireland, burials, ringed pins, Hiberno-Norse, and cloak fasteners
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Lecture
Beyond Picts and Vikings: Northern mainland Scotland 800-1100
Adrian Maldonado speaking about the artefacts and carved stones from the end of the Pictish period and Viking Age in the northern mainland. This is a re-recording of a talk given person at Strathpeffer on 28th October 2023 for NOSAS's 25th anniversary celebrations.Maldonado, Adrián
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Journal article
The mitochondrial DNA diversity of captive ruffed lemurs (Varecia spp.): implications for conservation
Ruffed lemurs ( and ) are categorized as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and genetic studies are needed for assessing the conservation value of captive populations. Using 280 mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) D-loop sequences, we studied the genetic diversity and structure of captive ruffed lemurs in Madagascar, Europe and...Vega, Rodrigo ; Hopper, Jane ; Kitchener, Andrew C ; Catinaud, Jérôme ; Roullet, Delphine …
Biodiversity, diversity, Lemuridae, genetic, primates, conservation, and Madagascar
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Journal article
Exhibition Review: Tales in Gaelic (Temporary exhibition - Sgeul/Story: Folk Tales from the Scottish Highlands, National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh)
Bruce Blacklaw finds folklore and beauty in this celebration of the Gaelic languageBlacklaw, Bruce
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Book
Dyes in History and Archaeology 41
This Special Issue features contributions from the conference DHA41. Dyes in History and Archaeology (DHA) is an annual international conference that focuses on the academic discussion of dyes and organic pigments which have been used in the past. Every year since 1982, this meeting has drawn together conservators; curators; (technical)...Sandström, Edith
contributions, conference , organic colorants, Dyes in History and Archaeology, and conservation
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Journal article
Two Sculptures, One Master? A Technical Study of Two Rare Examples of Polychrome Sculptures Associated with “the Master of Saint Catherine of Gualino”, Italy, Fourteenth Century
Between the 1960s and 1990s art historian Giovanni Previtali identified a group of polychrome wood trecento sculptures from the Umbrian-Abruzzo region of Italy as the work of one hand. He named his artist the Maestro della Santa Caterina Gualino after one of the pieces considered to epitomize the style he... -
Journal article
The Power of Glass: Craft Scotland Conference, 2022
In 2022, the UN marked the International Year of Glass, celebrating the essential role glass has, and will continue to have, in society. One element of this celebration was the importance of glass within art and its history, which the Craft Scotland 2022 Conference: The Power of Glass looked to... -
Journal article
Fair Isle Knitwear
Fair Isle knitwear with its brightly-coloured geometric patterns, is known across the world today. The style has had various fashion flashpoints over the last two centuries, not least in the 1920s when the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VIII, was photographed looking very dapper wearing Fair Isle sweaters. It...Wyld, Helen ; Laurenson, Sarah
research , craft, textiles, Fair Isle knitwear , knitting, and National Museums Scotland collections
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Journal article
A new species of Lygistorrhina (Lygistorrhina) Skuse, 1890 (Diptera: Keroplatidae, Lygistorrhininae) with a key to the subgenus
A new species of Lygistorrhina (Lygistorrhina) Skuse, 1890, Lygistorrhina woodi sp. nov., is described. The specimen was dissected from an alcohol-preserved flower of Ceropegia aristolochioides ssp. deflersiana Bruyns (Apocynaceae, Asclepiadoideae, Ceropegieae) stored in the Kew herbarium. This is the first occurrence of the lygistorrhine gnats in a hot, semi-arid climate....Blagoderov, Vladimir ; Ollerton, Jeff ; Whittington, Andrew
Fungus gnats , Taxonomy , Apocynaceae, Biodiversity, Ceropegia, New taxa , Diptera, and Afrotropical region
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Journal article
Hwiccewyrm trispiculum gen. et sp. nov., a new leptopleuronine procolophonid from the Late Triassic of southwest England
The fissure fill localities of southwest England and South Wales are well‐known for preserving rich assemblages of predominantly small‐bodied Late Triassic to Early Jurassic tetrapods, but many aspects of these assemblages remain contentious. The age of the Late Triassic fissures is disputed, with some lines of argument suggesting a latest...Butler, Richard J ; Meade, Luke E ; Cleary, Terri J ; McWhirter, Kai T ; Brown, Emily E …
Procolophonidae , phylogeny , Parareptilia , fissure fills , and Triassic
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Journal article
Albinism in the common shrew Sorex araneus
Albinism is a hypopigmentation disorder which occurs as a consequence of mutations in genes involved in melanin biosynthesis. It is recorded in many mammalian species but is generally considered to be rare in natural populations. Here, we describe a fully albino individual of the common shrew found in south-western Poland....Wójcik, Jan M ; Kowalczyk, Rafał ; Rybiałek, Jerzy ; Herman, Jeremy
Fur colouration , Albino , Shrews, Pelage , and Soricidae
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Journal article
Skull morphology of bottlenose dolphins worldwide and patterns of adaptation between coastal and offshore environments
The morphological differentiation between coastal and offshore ecotypes of bottlenose dolphins (genus ) has been researched since the 1960s, particularly in (Montagu, 1821), although most morphological studies have focused on localized populations. Therefore, it is unclear how patterns observed in these individual populations integrate within the global morphological variation. Here...Oxford‐Smith, N ; Ruta, M ; Gao, A ; Viaud‐Martinez, K A ; Sabin, R …
ecotype , dolphin , offshore , adaptation , biogeography , Tursiops truncatus, coastal , and skull morphology
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Journal article
How genomic insights into the evolutionary history of clouded leopards inform their conservation
Clouded leopards ( spp.), a morphologically and ecologically distinct lineage of big cats, are severely threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, targeted hunting, and other human activities. The long-held poor understanding of their genetics and evolution has undermined the effectiveness of conservation actions. Here, we report a comprehensive investigation of...Yuan, Jiaqing ; Wang, Guiqiang ; Zhao, Le ; Kitchener, Andrew C ; Sun, Ting …
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Journal article
Genetic swamping of the critically endangered Scottish wildcat was recent and accelerated by disease
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Journal article
Integrative taxonomy reveals unrecognised species diversity in African Corypha larks (Aves: Alaudidae)
The species complex comprising the rufous-naped lark Corypha africana, Sharpe’s lark Corypha sharpii, the red-winged lark Corypha hypermetra, the Somali long-billed lark Corypha somalica and Ash’s lark Corypha ashi encompasses 31 recognised taxa across sub-Saharan Africa, many of which are extremely poorly known and some not observed for decades. Only...Alström, Per ; Mohammadi, Zeinolabedin ; Donald, Paul F ; Nymark, Marianne ; Enbody, Erik D …
behaviour, morphometrics, Africa, bird, and new classification
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Journal article
A revision of the ‘coelophysoid-grade’ theropod specimen from the Lower Jurassic of the Isle of Skye (Scotland )
The broadest diversification of early predatory dinosaurs is represented by the ‘coelophysoid-grade’ neotheropods, but their Hettangian–Sinemurian ( 191–201 Ma) record is scarce worldwide. More information is needed to shed light on the evolution of this dinosaur group after the end-Triassic mass extinction ( 201 Ma). Here we revisit the anatomy...Ezcurra, Martín D ; Marke, Daniel ; Walsh, Stig A ; Brusatte, Stephen L
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Lecture
Mineralogy of the Mobile phone
Did you know that mobile phones use over fifty different chemical elements to work? Where do these come from and how are they used?Walcott, Rachel
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Journal article
Reaching Further with Earth Science Data
Earth Sciences cover a broad spectrum of research fields such as petrology, sedimentology, structural geology, seismology, and geomorphology, to name a few, which aim to understand interrelated processes on the surface and in the interior of our planet. Many of the research questions studied in the Earth sciences, such as,...Walcott, Rachel ; Lehnert, Kerstin
geology, mineralogy, geochemistry, Mineral Extension for Darwin Core, and soil science
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Book chapter
Vers une histoire globale de la mode. Un debat entre BuYun Chen, Beverly Lemire et Lucy Norris
Perspective interroge la mode en tant que pratique rhétorique, artistique et culturelle. Historiens de l’art, de la mode et archéologues, mais aussi designers et conservateurs se penchent sur les manières dont le vêtement et la parure ont servi à exprimer le lien des individus aux identités individuelles et collectives qui...Breward, Christopher ; Riello, Giorgio
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Abstract
Late Ordovician echinoderms from the Brabant Massif (Belgium): Taxonomic revision, palaeoecology and palaeobiogeographic implications
In the Ordovician, the Brabant Massif (Belgium) was situated in the eastern part of the Avalonia microcontinent, which then also comprised eastern Newfoundland, southern Ireland, Wales, England, the Netherlands, southern Denmark and northwestern Germany. With the exception of the British Isles, which yielded a more or less continuous fossil record...Lefebrve, Bertrand ; Candela, Yves
Brabant Massif (Belgium), taxonomy, Ordovician , and echinoderms
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Journal article
A documentation checklist for (Linked) humanities data
Documentation, including information, instructions, and use cases, is key to reproducibility in Digital Humanities research and usability of resulting tools and resources. However, despite multiple studies that support this assertion, clear and comprehensive documentation is often lacking due to fundamental incompatibilities with existing funding models and the resulting prioritisation of...Middle, Sarah
Reproducibility , User research, Usability , Digital humanities , and Linked data
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Journal article
Human consumption of seaweed and freshwater aquatic plants in ancient Europe
During the Mesolithic in Europe, there is widespread evidence for an increase in exploitation of aquatic resources. In contrast, the subsequent Neolithic is characterised by the spread of farming, land ownership, and full sedentism, which lead to the perception of marine resources subsequently representing marginal or famine food or being...Buckley, Stephen ; Hardy, Karen ; Hallgren, Fredrik ; Kubiak-Martens, Lucy ; Miliauskienė, Žydrūnė …
Lipids and Archaeology