An appraisal of pathological animal bones held at UCL which form part of the unique Baker and Brothwell Collection 

Project summary

This project will expand and enhance the internationally significant Baker and Brothwell Collection of pathological animal bones by cataloguing, photographing and documenting previously unrecorded specimens held at University College London. Drawing on specialist expertise in both veterinary medicine and zooarchaeology, the project will identify and interpret animal diseases and skeletal abnormalities, updating historical diagnoses where appropriate and integrating the new material into the existing digital database developed at the University of York.

The resulting resource will strengthen an openly accessible reference collection for animal palaeopathology, supporting archaeologists, zooarchaeologists and researchers worldwide in identifying and interpreting pathological bone specimens from archaeological sites. By bringing together collections from York and UCL, the project will preserve a unique scientific resource, improve understanding of animal health and disease in the past, and demonstrate the value of interdisciplinary collaboration between veterinary science and archaeology.