Ian D Bull
Biographic Data
| ID | 129333 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ian D Bull |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ian D |
| FAMILY NAME | Bull |
| SIGNATURE | BULL I D |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Bristol |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-5881-5654 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 23 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 188 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 23 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1998 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Volatile compounds reveal the composition of embalming materials used in Egyptian mummification
The distinctive musty odour of Egyptian mummies is evident to anyone who has encountered their tissues and balms. A reasonable assumption is that this odour is the product of the decay of the mummy body tissues combined with volatile compounds released from aged balms and bandages. Given the established complexities and variabilities in the compositions of mummy balms, it is expected that variations in balm compositions will be reflected in the c…
Making the Most of Soils in Archaeology. A Review
Sediments serve as an archive of human and animal activity and environmental conditions through their physical and chemical properties as well as captured biological traces. Archaeologists have been extracting information from archaeological soils and sediments for decades, but recent technological developments, such as the analysis of lipid biomarkers, proteins, and ancient DNA from soil and the diversification of approaches necessitate a re-exa…
Dark materials
Characterising life in settlements and structures
Roundhouses are ubiquitous features of Iron Age landscapes across North West Europe, yet the way they were used internally is not well understood. We demonstrate how spatial analyses of steroid lipid biomarkers advances our understanding of household activities, living conditions and animal management associated with a well-preserved 5th century BCE roundhouse from Scotland's first Iron Age wetland village, Black Loch of Myrton, especially when c…
Younger Dryas and early Holocene subsistence in the northern Great Basin
Younger Dryas and early Holocene Western Stemmed Tradition occupants of the northern Great Basin appear to have practiced a broad-based subsistence strategy including the consumption of a wide variety of small animal and plant resources. However, much of our evidence for human diet and land use during this period comes from dry cave and rockshelter sites where it can be challenging to distinguish plant and small animal remains deposited as a resu…
Birch bark tar in early Medieval England – Continuity of tradition or technological revival
Birch bark tar is a manufactured product with a history of production and use that reaches back to the Palaeolithic. Its sticky, water resistant and biocidal properties mean that it has a wide range of applications, for example, as a multipurpose adhesive, sealant and in medicine. Archaeological evidence for birch bark tar in the old world covers a broad geographic range from the UK to the Baltic and from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia. In the …
Parasite infection at the early farming community of Çatalhöyük
New Research at Paisley Caves
Paisley Caves in Oregon has become well known due to early dates, and human presence in the form of coprolites, found to contain ancient human DNA. Questions remain over whether the coprolites themselves are human, or whether the DNA is mobile in the sediments. This brief introduces new research applying an integrated analytical approach combining sediment micromorphology and lipid biomarker analysis, which aims to resolve these problems
East-central Florida pre-Columbian wood sculpture
Radiocarbon Dating Wooden Carvings and Skeletal Remains from Pitch Lake, Trinidad
Since the mid-19th century, rare prehistoric wooden carvings and human skeletal remains have been dredged from Pitch Lake, Trinidad, during commercial asphalt mining. Establishing a chronology for these objects is challenging, due to both a lack of stratigraphic and contextual information and the necessity to completely remove any pitch to ensure accurate radiocarbon ( 14 C) dates. A range of solvent extraction protocols was tested to identify th…
Archaeological science and object biography
Early Neolithic Agriculture in County Mayo, Republic of Ireland
The Céide Fields, Belderrig, and Rathlackan are extensive early Neolithic field systems in County Mayo, Republic of Ireland. The Céide Fields are thought to be the earliest field systems in Europe, and as such they are listed as a potential World Heritage site. For this project, the buried soils of the 3 sites were analyzed in order to determine the nature and extent of the prehistoric land use within the field systems. The aims were twofold: to …
Multiproxy study of the last meal of a mid-Holocene Oyogos Yar horse, Sakha Republic, Russia
The last meal of a horse that lived in the northern part of the Sakha Republic (Russia) c. 5400 years ago was studied using pollen, spores, botanical macroremains, lipid composition, and ancient DNA in order to reconstruct its components. Pollen of Poaceae was superabundant, but this may be because of over-representation as a consequence of grazed inflorescenses of grasses. We evaluate the paleo-environmental indicator value of the different meth…
Roman impact on the landscape near castellum Fectio, The Netherlands
Biomolecular and micromorphological analysis of suspected faecal deposits at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Turkey
The microstratigraphy of middens
Microstratigraphy - the sequencing of detailed biological signals on site - is an important new approach being developed in the Çatalhöyük project. Here the authors show how microscopic recording of the strata and content of widespread middens on the tell are revealing daily activities and the selective employment of plants in houses and as fuel. Here we continue to witness a major advance in the practice of archaeological investigation
Lipid analysis of a ground sloth coprolite
Coprolites can provide detailed information about the nutritional habits and digestive processes of the animals that produced them and may also yield information about the palaeoenvironment in which the animal existed. To test the utility of the lipid biomarker approach to coprolite analysis, lipids were extracted from a coprolite of the Pleistocene ground sloth Nothrotheriops shastensis . Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry results revealed a d…
The Ecological implications of a Yakutian mammoth's last meal
Part of a large male woolly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius ) was preserved in permafrost in northern Yakutia. It was radiocarbon dated to ca. 18,500 14 C yr BP (ca. 22,500 cal yr BP). Dung from the lower intestine was subjected to a multiproxy array of microscopic, chemical, and molecular techniques to reconstruct the diet, the season of death, and the paleoenvironment. Pollen and plant macro-remains showed that grasses and sedges were the main …
The Application of Steroidal Biomarkers to Track the Abandonment of a Roman Wastewater Course at the Agora (Athens, Greece)
A subterranean, stone‐built, sediment‐filled culvert discovered during excavations at the Agora (Athens, Greece) was dated to the Roman period on the basis of its characteristic construction and associated finds, including coins. The location of the culvert relative to other adjacent watercourses and an ancient river bed suggested that the structure was a sewer. This was confirmed through a multi‐molecular biomarker approach based on analysis of …
The origin of faeces by means of biomarker detection
An organic geochemical investigation of the practice of manuring at a Minoan site on Pseira Island, Crete
Lipid components in a soil profile developed in an agricultural terrace at a Minoan site on Pseira Island, Crete, were analyzed to determine whether the practice of manuring in antiquity, as inferred by distributional and temporal sherd scatter, could be confirmed through the use of biomarker compounds as proxies for manuring. Analysis of total organic carbon and the abundance of n-alkyl lipids (n-alkanols and fatty acids) demonstrated that while…
Muck 'n' molecules
The detection of manuring in antiquity can provide important information concerning the agricultural and waste disposal practices of ancient communities. Faecal biomarkers provide a reliable and highly diagnostic method for detecting ancient faecal inputs to soils irrespective of any morphological remnants of manuring
Early Anthropogenic Soil Formation at Tofts Ness, Sanday, Orkney
Biomolecular and micromorphological analysis of suspected faecal deposits at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Turkey
The microstratigraphy of middens
Microstratigraphy - the sequencing of detailed biological signals on site - is an important new approach being developed in the Çatalhöyük project. Here the authors show how microscopic recording of the strata and content of widespread middens on the tell are revealing daily activities and the selective employment of plants in houses and as fuel. Here we continue to witness a major advance in the practice of archaeological investigation
Early Anthropogenic Soil Formation at Tofts Ness, Sanday, Orkney
Muck 'n' molecules
The detection of manuring in antiquity can provide important information concerning the agricultural and waste disposal practices of ancient communities. Faecal biomarkers provide a reliable and highly diagnostic method for detecting ancient faecal inputs to soils irrespective of any morphological remnants of manuring
Younger Dryas and early Holocene subsistence in the northern Great Basin
Younger Dryas and early Holocene Western Stemmed Tradition occupants of the northern Great Basin appear to have practiced a broad-based subsistence strategy including the consumption of a wide variety of small animal and plant resources. However, much of our evidence for human diet and land use during this period comes from dry cave and rockshelter sites where it can be challenging to distinguish plant and small animal remains deposited as a resu…
Archaeological science and object biography
Characterising life in settlements and structures
Roundhouses are ubiquitous features of Iron Age landscapes across North West Europe, yet the way they were used internally is not well understood. We demonstrate how spatial analyses of steroid lipid biomarkers advances our understanding of household activities, living conditions and animal management associated with a well-preserved 5th century BCE roundhouse from Scotland's first Iron Age wetland village, Black Loch of Myrton, especially when c…
New Research at Paisley Caves
Paisley Caves in Oregon has become well known due to early dates, and human presence in the form of coprolites, found to contain ancient human DNA. Questions remain over whether the coprolites themselves are human, or whether the DNA is mobile in the sediments. This brief introduces new research applying an integrated analytical approach combining sediment micromorphology and lipid biomarker analysis, which aims to resolve these problems
The Application of Steroidal Biomarkers to Track the Abandonment of a Roman Wastewater Course at the Agora (Athens, Greece)
A subterranean, stone‐built, sediment‐filled culvert discovered during excavations at the Agora (Athens, Greece) was dated to the Roman period on the basis of its characteristic construction and associated finds, including coins. The location of the culvert relative to other adjacent watercourses and an ancient river bed suggested that the structure was a sewer. This was confirmed through a multi‐molecular biomarker approach based on analysis of …
Roman impact on the landscape near castellum Fectio, The Netherlands
Dark materials
Parasite infection at the early farming community of Çatalhöyük
Radiocarbon Dating Wooden Carvings and Skeletal Remains from Pitch Lake, Trinidad
Since the mid-19th century, rare prehistoric wooden carvings and human skeletal remains have been dredged from Pitch Lake, Trinidad, during commercial asphalt mining. Establishing a chronology for these objects is challenging, due to both a lack of stratigraphic and contextual information and the necessity to completely remove any pitch to ensure accurate radiocarbon ( 14 C) dates. A range of solvent extraction protocols was tested to identify th…
Birch bark tar in early Medieval England – Continuity of tradition or technological revival
Birch bark tar is a manufactured product with a history of production and use that reaches back to the Palaeolithic. Its sticky, water resistant and biocidal properties mean that it has a wide range of applications, for example, as a multipurpose adhesive, sealant and in medicine. Archaeological evidence for birch bark tar in the old world covers a broad geographic range from the UK to the Baltic and from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia. In the …
East-central Florida pre-Columbian wood sculpture
Early Neolithic Agriculture in County Mayo, Republic of Ireland
The Céide Fields, Belderrig, and Rathlackan are extensive early Neolithic field systems in County Mayo, Republic of Ireland. The Céide Fields are thought to be the earliest field systems in Europe, and as such they are listed as a potential World Heritage site. For this project, the buried soils of the 3 sites were analyzed in order to determine the nature and extent of the prehistoric land use within the field systems. The aims were twofold: to …
Multiproxy study of the last meal of a mid-Holocene Oyogos Yar horse, Sakha Republic, Russia
The last meal of a horse that lived in the northern part of the Sakha Republic (Russia) c. 5400 years ago was studied using pollen, spores, botanical macroremains, lipid composition, and ancient DNA in order to reconstruct its components. Pollen of Poaceae was superabundant, but this may be because of over-representation as a consequence of grazed inflorescenses of grasses. We evaluate the paleo-environmental indicator value of the different meth…
Early Anthropogenic Soil Formation at Tofts Ness, Sanday, Orkney
Muck 'n' molecules
The detection of manuring in antiquity can provide important information concerning the agricultural and waste disposal practices of ancient communities. Faecal biomarkers provide a reliable and highly diagnostic method for detecting ancient faecal inputs to soils irrespective of any morphological remnants of manuring
An organic geochemical investigation of the practice of manuring at a Minoan site on Pseira Island, Crete
Lipid components in a soil profile developed in an agricultural terrace at a Minoan site on Pseira Island, Crete, were analyzed to determine whether the practice of manuring in antiquity, as inferred by distributional and temporal sherd scatter, could be confirmed through the use of biomarker compounds as proxies for manuring. Analysis of total organic carbon and the abundance of n-alkyl lipids (n-alkanols and fatty acids) demonstrated that while…
The origin of faeces by means of biomarker detection
The Application of Steroidal Biomarkers to Track the Abandonment of a Roman Wastewater Course at the Agora (Athens, Greece)
A subterranean, stone‐built, sediment‐filled culvert discovered during excavations at the Agora (Athens, Greece) was dated to the Roman period on the basis of its characteristic construction and associated finds, including coins. The location of the culvert relative to other adjacent watercourses and an ancient river bed suggested that the structure was a sewer. This was confirmed through a multi‐molecular biomarker approach based on analysis of …
The Ecological implications of a Yakutian mammoth's last meal
Part of a large male woolly mammoth ( Mammuthus primigenius ) was preserved in permafrost in northern Yakutia. It was radiocarbon dated to ca. 18,500 14 C yr BP (ca. 22,500 cal yr BP). Dung from the lower intestine was subjected to a multiproxy array of microscopic, chemical, and molecular techniques to reconstruct the diet, the season of death, and the paleoenvironment. Pollen and plant macro-remains showed that grasses and sedges were the main …
Lipid analysis of a ground sloth coprolite
Coprolites can provide detailed information about the nutritional habits and digestive processes of the animals that produced them and may also yield information about the palaeoenvironment in which the animal existed. To test the utility of the lipid biomarker approach to coprolite analysis, lipids were extracted from a coprolite of the Pleistocene ground sloth Nothrotheriops shastensis . Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry results revealed a d…
Biomolecular and micromorphological analysis of suspected faecal deposits at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, Turkey
The microstratigraphy of middens
Microstratigraphy - the sequencing of detailed biological signals on site - is an important new approach being developed in the Çatalhöyük project. Here the authors show how microscopic recording of the strata and content of widespread middens on the tell are revealing daily activities and the selective employment of plants in houses and as fuel. Here we continue to witness a major advance in the practice of archaeological investigation
Multiproxy study of the last meal of a mid-Holocene Oyogos Yar horse, Sakha Republic, Russia
The last meal of a horse that lived in the northern part of the Sakha Republic (Russia) c. 5400 years ago was studied using pollen, spores, botanical macroremains, lipid composition, and ancient DNA in order to reconstruct its components. Pollen of Poaceae was superabundant, but this may be because of over-representation as a consequence of grazed inflorescenses of grasses. We evaluate the paleo-environmental indicator value of the different meth…
Roman impact on the landscape near castellum Fectio, The Netherlands
Early Neolithic Agriculture in County Mayo, Republic of Ireland
The Céide Fields, Belderrig, and Rathlackan are extensive early Neolithic field systems in County Mayo, Republic of Ireland. The Céide Fields are thought to be the earliest field systems in Europe, and as such they are listed as a potential World Heritage site. For this project, the buried soils of the 3 sites were analyzed in order to determine the nature and extent of the prehistoric land use within the field systems. The aims were twofold: to …
East-central Florida pre-Columbian wood sculpture
Radiocarbon Dating Wooden Carvings and Skeletal Remains from Pitch Lake, Trinidad
Since the mid-19th century, rare prehistoric wooden carvings and human skeletal remains have been dredged from Pitch Lake, Trinidad, during commercial asphalt mining. Establishing a chronology for these objects is challenging, due to both a lack of stratigraphic and contextual information and the necessity to completely remove any pitch to ensure accurate radiocarbon ( 14 C) dates. A range of solvent extraction protocols was tested to identify th…
Archaeological science and object biography
New Research at Paisley Caves
Paisley Caves in Oregon has become well known due to early dates, and human presence in the form of coprolites, found to contain ancient human DNA. Questions remain over whether the coprolites themselves are human, or whether the DNA is mobile in the sediments. This brief introduces new research applying an integrated analytical approach combining sediment micromorphology and lipid biomarker analysis, which aims to resolve these problems
Birch bark tar in early Medieval England – Continuity of tradition or technological revival
Birch bark tar is a manufactured product with a history of production and use that reaches back to the Palaeolithic. Its sticky, water resistant and biocidal properties mean that it has a wide range of applications, for example, as a multipurpose adhesive, sealant and in medicine. Archaeological evidence for birch bark tar in the old world covers a broad geographic range from the UK to the Baltic and from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia. In the …
Parasite infection at the early farming community of Çatalhöyük
Dark materials
Characterising life in settlements and structures
Roundhouses are ubiquitous features of Iron Age landscapes across North West Europe, yet the way they were used internally is not well understood. We demonstrate how spatial analyses of steroid lipid biomarkers advances our understanding of household activities, living conditions and animal management associated with a well-preserved 5th century BCE roundhouse from Scotland's first Iron Age wetland village, Black Loch of Myrton, especially when c…
Younger Dryas and early Holocene subsistence in the northern Great Basin
Younger Dryas and early Holocene Western Stemmed Tradition occupants of the northern Great Basin appear to have practiced a broad-based subsistence strategy including the consumption of a wide variety of small animal and plant resources. However, much of our evidence for human diet and land use during this period comes from dry cave and rockshelter sites where it can be challenging to distinguish plant and small animal remains deposited as a resu…
Making the Most of Soils in Archaeology. A Review
Sediments serve as an archive of human and animal activity and environmental conditions through their physical and chemical properties as well as captured biological traces. Archaeologists have been extracting information from archaeological soils and sediments for decades, but recent technological developments, such as the analysis of lipid biomarkers, proteins, and ancient DNA from soil and the diversification of approaches necessitate a re-exa…
Volatile compounds reveal the composition of embalming materials used in Egyptian mummification
The distinctive musty odour of Egyptian mummies is evident to anyone who has encountered their tissues and balms. A reasonable assumption is that this odour is the product of the decay of the mummy body tissues combined with volatile compounds released from aged balms and bandages. Given the established complexities and variabilities in the compositions of mummy balms, it is expected that variations in balm compositions will be reflected in the c…
Archaeology (18 works) · Geography (17 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (16 works) · Biology (11 works) · Geology (11 works) · Ecology (8 works) · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research (8 works) · Paleontology (7 works) · Agriculture (5 works) · Paleopathology and ancient diseases (5 works)