Advancing archaeology at commercial developments

Research highlights

• Developed the world’s first guidelines for the application of organic residue analysis in commercial property developments
• Created the leading analysis service used by all major commercial archaeology units within the UK
• Abundance of new discoveries at over 60 development projects reveals the rich cultural history of the British Isles and Europe 

Enhancing cultural heritage 

In the early 1990s, the UK Government introduced a new law that requires commercial developers to carry out archaeological assessments whenever they find significant archaeological artefacts during building projects.  

Despite this new requirement, much historically important heritage was still lost because commercial investigations did not routinely analyse organic residues such as fats, resins and waxes on artefacts. These residues can provide unique insights into human diet, agriculture and other cultural activities.  

Bristol researchers have helped to solve this issue by creating the methodology for the use of organic residue analysis (ORA) and driving its integration into mainstream commercial archaeology.  

Driving awareness in the commercial sector 

Over the last two decades, the research team led by Professor Richard Evershed has demonstrated how the widespread survival of the biomolecular components of organic residues can reveal hitherto unobtainable insights into human foodways, technologies and ritual practices.  Important discoveries using ORA have included the association of the honeybee with early farmers of Europe dating back nearly 9,000 years. 

The breakthrough for commercial archaeology came when the Bristol researchers approached Historic England with the idea of creating guidance for commercial developers. The guidance has now been formally adopted by Historic England and downloaded over 3500 times.  

The team also led a series of training sessions throughout the UK to promote the guidance to archaeological and heritage professionals. The sessions were attended by more than 100 delegates, including Archaeological Planning Officers from 21 county councils, representatives from the major UK commercial archaeological units, leading heritage organisations and curators from leading museums.  

Revealing a rich cultural history 

ORA has now become a powerful new tool in the commercial archaeology community. Since 2017, over 60 major commercial projects in the UK and overseas have used ORA analysis to provide many new insights into our past. 

The Bristol research team has also developed a commercial ORA service that all major commercial archaeology units within the UK use, including Wessex Archaeology, Museum of London Archaeology, Oxford Archaeology and other organisations such as Historic England and the National Museums of Scotland and Ireland.  

Notable projects and discoveries include  

• Excavations carried out during the commercial development of the Amazon building at Shoreditch – which helped to date the first farmers in prehistoric London to nearly 6,000 years ago
• Excavations in the historic heart of Oxford - which yielded new evidence of 11th to 12th century houses and confirmed the presence of Oxford’s early medieval Jewish community
• Lipid analysis carried out for the National Museum of Ireland on their collection of Bronze Age food vessels - which revealed for the first time that the vessels were used to process dairy products such as milk, butter and cheese.