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Flatfish are ecologically diverse species that commonly occur in marine environments, but also in estuarine and riverine habitats. This complicates the examination of the potential role of flatfish in the 'marine fish event horizon', an economic shift in human exploitation from freshwater to marine fish species during the 10–11th centuries CE around the southern North Sea. This study represents the first multi‐disciplinary investigation of flatfish remains to make species‐specific interpretations of flatfish exploitation. Peptide mass fingerprinting and multi‐isotope analysis of carbon (δ13C), nitrogen (δ15N) and sulphur (δ34S) was performed on collagen from 356 archaeological flatfish and 120 comparative archaeological marine or freshwater species to explore the catch habitat of individual flatfish species between 600 and 1600 CE from the North Sea area. European flounder show signals reflecting both freshwater and marine environments, while other flatfish show only those of marine habitats. A subtle shift towards more marine exploitation towards the end of the period is identified, corresponding to the observed transition in targeted species from flounder to plaice throughout the medieval period. Sites show slight differences in δ13C and δ34S within the same species, related to the local environments. Remarkable is the high abundance of marine plaice and flounder during the early medieval period, which shows clear marine or coastal exploitation of flatfish early on, well before the previously accepted onset of the marine fish event horizon. This indicates a gradual shift from coastal to open marine fish exploitation over the medieval period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In palaeontological and archaeozoological studies dealing with tilapia remains, identifications are usually limited to the level of the tribe Tilapiini (now called Haplotilapiini). In the present study, dry skeletons of Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758), Oreochromis aureus (Steindachner, 1864), Sarotherodon galilaeus (Linnaeus, 1758) and Coptodon zillii (Gervais, 1848) were analysed with the aim of defining morphological characters on a series of isolated skeletal elements. Eighteen different skeletal elements that have good chances of being well preserved (and of being recognised as tilapia) were analysed, i.e. premaxilla, dentary, maxilla, articular, lacrimal, palatine, quadrate, hyomandibula, operculum, preoperculum, posttemporal, cleithrum, supracleithrum, urohyal, vomer, and the first three precaudal vertebrae. Diagnostic criteria are described and illustrated with figures. It appears from the comparative analysis, and also from blind tests carried out afterwards, that identification is possible except for the articular and the third vertebra. More accurate identification of fossil and subfossil finds of Haplotilapiini should allow a better documentation of the zoogeographical history of these taxa in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remains of sturgeons (Acipenser sturio and A. oxyrinchus) are regularly found on western European archaeological sites. The identification of these isolated bones should ideally be carried out with the aid of a comparative skeletal collection, consisting of modern specimens of different sizes. Because such reference material of sea sturgeons (A. sturio and A. oxyrinchus) is relatively rare and dispersed over many different museums and institutes, a practical guide is presented here as an aid to the identification of the most commonly found archaeological sturgeon remains. This guide, which is based on observations made on 64 individuals housed in 13 different natural history collections, should allow identifying most archaeological sturgeon remains from western European sites. Presented are the morphological characteristics of the bones of the skull roof and circumorbital region (posttemporal, dermopterotic, parietal, frontal, dermosphenotic, postorbital, jugal and supraorbital), bones of the braincase (parasphenoid), opercular series (subopercle and branchiostegals), the palatoquadrate and associated bones and lower jaw (palatopterygoid, dermopalatine and dentary), the hyoid and gill arches with the hyomandibula, the isolated skeletal elements from the pectoral girdle (clavicle, cleithrum and supracleithrum), the bones of the fin and fin supports (pectoral fin spine, fin rays and fulcra) and the dorsal, ventral, lateral and accessory scutes. For each element, descriptions and pictures are provided of modern and archaeological specimens. Regression equations allowing fish length reconstructions on the basis of single bone measurements are given for 14 elements and the scutes. Finally, criteria for species identification are provided. In the case of the dentary, dermopalatine and palatopterygoid, these are differences in shape of the skeletal elements, whereas for the dermal bones the external surface pattern is diagnostic when reconstructed fish length is over one meter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A concentration of fish remains found in a single room of a fortified building at Mleiha (United Arab Emirates) is presented here. Part of it was probably the filling of a bag or an organic container that fell from a bench onto the floor of the room. The various species recovered from these contexts, dating to the second to mid-third centuries AD, are briefly described. Particular attention is paid to the skeletal elements by which the fish are represented and to the corresponding lengths of the animals, as these allow the proposition that the fish had been dried on the seashore before being carried to the site inland. The data from building H will be compared to those from previously studied contexts at Mleiha (Gautier & Van Neer ; Mashkour & Van Neer ). In addition the ichthyofauna from ed-Dur (Van Neer & Gautier ), a coastal site that is partially contemporaneous with the contexts from building H, will be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a large series of dry skeletons of modern European eel Anguilla anguilla (Linnaeus, 1758) from Belgium and the Netherlands, the relationship between fish length and individual bone measurements is investigated. The aim of the study is to provide adequate regression equations between both parameters. This methodology is relevant for both palaeoecological and ecological researches since isolated skeletal elements survive in large numbers on archaeological sites and in the stomach contents, faeces or regurgitations of piscivorous animals. The predictive value for the length estimations is explored for various skeletal elements and the accuracy of the obtained regression formulae is compared to that of the formulae already existing in literature. Particular attention is paid to the use of vertebrae, taking into account that different morphotypes can be distinguished amongst them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]