Otter Spraint Workshop

Roughly 15 CCOP volunteers attended this wonderful fish bone analysis workshop run by Professor Naomi Sykes and the Centre for Human-Animal-Environment Bioarchaeology at the University of Exeter.

Half a dozen internationally renowned fish bone and remains specialists taught us about the fish skeleton, how to identify key bones, which bits survive best and how they can be changed by digestion. Perhaps most importantly we learnt the importance of sample recording and preservation to allow identifications to be confirmed and also that some of the less common species can baffle even the most experienced scientist. Having taken this all on board it should make the CCOP much more scientifically rigorous and keep us all a lot busier!

A big thank you to everyone who gave up their weekends to attend but especially to the course tutors: Naomi Sykes, Rebecca Nicholson, Shelagh Hamilton-Dyer, Andrew Jones, Rebecca Reynolds, and Hannah Russ.