Beatrice Krooks

beatrice.krooks@arkeologi.uu.se

Since January 2021, I am a part of the Transdisciplinary research project Fisheries and coastal development in small island context - the past, present and future. We aim to combine archaeological and modern ecological data in hopes of finding sustainable ways of fishing in the Baltic sea. Beatrice Krooks My focus is on osteoarchaeological remains, with an in-depth specialization in fish remains, discussing and researching their assemblage in relation to seasonality of catch, shipping routes and dietary practices. While working as a field archaeologist in Franconia, Germany, I have gained insight into taphonomical aspects, as well excavation techniques, and their effects on the archaeological assemblage. This work also allowed me the opportunity to gain theoretical and practical expertise on archaeological sites spanning different ages and backgrounds, from Neolithic settlements to the Second World War.

My Research

The aim of my Ph.D.-research is to increase our understanding of the relations between fish and fishermen on a local and global scale over time by analyzing spatiotemporal accumulated archaeological fishbone assemblages on and around Gotland. By identifying core factors, like species, size distribution, butchery patterns and relative abundance in the assemblage and correlating it with shoreline displacement, fishing gear and fishing techniques, the evolution of fishery practices of Gotland can be brought to light. Recreating parts of the fishing land- and seascapes of the past will enable us to create new ways of developing and improving present-day sustainable fishery in the Baltic Sea.

The research will also include a significant amount of fieldwork, which will be undertaken to highlight the preservation of fish remains on Gotland; different excavations methods will be tried out and sieving with different mesh sizes will be used to understand the potential loss within the analyzed material. We aim at creating comparative data sets by using the same mesh sizes for both the archaeological and modern material in parts of the project. Quantification of the fishbone assemblage will identify the species targeted throughout time, while changes in size distribution can indicate overfishing or changes within the habitat of the fish.

Synthesizing results on marine resource variability today and the data obtained in my research with climate change variables on Gotland and other islands in the Baltic Sea could give further insights to different drivers in human-environmental, human-nonhuman and human-human relationships. Additionally the project aims to create a transdisciplinary foundation and methods for applying what we can learn from the past to improve how we act in the future, creating sustainable fishing practices on Gotland, the Baltic Sea and the world.

Collaborators in the project:

Chiara D’Agata PhD-student at Natural Resources and Sustainable Development, department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University.

Supervisors:

Helene Martinsson-Wallin, Professor at the department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala University

Lina Mtwana Nordlund, Associate senior lecturer/Assistant Professor at Department of Earth Sciences, Natural Resources and Sustainable Development, Uppsala University

Adam Boethius, Researcher at the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Historical Osteology, Lund University.

Publications:

Krooks, B., 2018. Fisch will dreimal schwimmen, in Wasser, Schmalz und Wein., in: Hoffmann, M. (Ed.), Forchheim - älter als der Rest?!: Begleitheft zur Ausstellung im Pfalzmuseum Forchheim vom 19.07.-28.10.2018. Lehrstuhl für Archäologie des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit an der Otto-Friedich-Universität Bamberg.

Krooks, B., 2013. Tankar kring torsk. Isotopanalyser av torskkotor för att undersöka vikten av torskimport i medeltida Sverige (Bachelor thesis). Stockholm University. URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-104102