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All Outputs (17)

Who Gets Buried with a Bear? The Inclusion of Wild Animals in the Cremation Rite of Eastern England and Northern Germany (Fourth to Eighth Century CE) (2024)
Book Chapter
Squires, K., O'Regan, H., & Grimm, O. (in press). Who Gets Buried with a Bear? The Inclusion of Wild Animals in the Cremation Rite of Eastern England and Northern Germany (Fourth to Eighth Century CE). In Beast and human. Brepols Publishers

Cremation was the dominant mortuary practice amongst Germanic groups on the European continent before the coming of Christianity. Likewise, it was also a prominent rite in early medieval England (fifth to seventh centuries CE), particularly so in the... Read More about Who Gets Buried with a Bear? The Inclusion of Wild Animals in the Cremation Rite of Eastern England and Northern Germany (Fourth to Eighth Century CE).

Brown bears in burials and entertainment in later prehistoric to modern Britain (c. 2400 BC – AD 1900s) (2023)
Book Chapter
O'Regan, H. (2023). Brown bears in burials and entertainment in later prehistoric to modern Britain (c. 2400 BC – AD 1900s). In O. Grimm (Ed.), Bear and Human Facets of a Multi-Layered Relationship from Past to Recent Times, with Emphasis on Northern Europe. Volume 1 (187-208). Brepols Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1484/M.TANE-EB.5.134334

The brown bear, Ursus arctos, was a native British mammal, but is now extinct. This chapter briefly explores the history of the native brown bear before turning to the anthropogenic evidence for bears in prehistoric and later Britain. There are two m... Read More about Brown bears in burials and entertainment in later prehistoric to modern Britain (c. 2400 BC – AD 1900s).

‘Why so high?’ Examining discrepancies between the Sr biosphere map and archaeological tooth data from the Peak District, England (2023)
Journal Article
O'Regan, H. J., Wilkinson, D. M., Wagner, D., & Evans, J. (2023). ‘Why so high?’ Examining discrepancies between the Sr biosphere map and archaeological tooth data from the Peak District, England. Journal of Archaeological Science, 157, Article 105826. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2023.105826

The analysis of 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios in human and nonhuman tooth enamel is used worldwide for archaeological and forensic purposes to establish if an individual is likely to have grown up in the area from which their remains were excavated. The E... Read More about ‘Why so high?’ Examining discrepancies between the Sr biosphere map and archaeological tooth data from the Peak District, England.

Experiencing North American Bears in post-medieval Britain (2020)
Book Chapter
O'Regan, H. (2020). Experiencing North American Bears in post-medieval Britain. In H. A. Lapham, & G. A. Waselkov (Eds.), Bears: Archaeological and Ethnohistorical Perspectives in Native Eastern North America. University Press of Florida

North American bears have had cultural significance outside the United States. This chapter explores the role of black, brown and polar bears in Britain, focussing on the period following the founding of the Hudson Bay Company in the late 1600s. Both... Read More about Experiencing North American Bears in post-medieval Britain.

Rural Life, Roman Ways? Examination of Late Iron Age to Late Romano-British Burial Practice and Mobility at Dog Hole Cave, Cumbria (2020)
Journal Article
O'Regan, H. J., Bland, K., Evans, J., Holmes, M., McLeod, K., Philpott, R., Smith, I., Thorp, J., & Wilkinson, D. M. (2020). Rural Life, Roman Ways? Examination of Late Iron Age to Late Romano-British Burial Practice and Mobility at Dog Hole Cave, Cumbria. Britannia, 51, 83-116. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068113X20000136

The scarcity of Romano-British human remains from north-west England has hindered understanding of burial practice in this region. Here, we report on the excavation of human and non-human animal remains and material culture from Dog Hole Cave, Haverb... Read More about Rural Life, Roman Ways? Examination of Late Iron Age to Late Romano-British Burial Practice and Mobility at Dog Hole Cave, Cumbria.

Mongoose Manor: Herpestidae remains from the Early Pleistocene Cooper’s D locality in the Cradle of Humankind, Gauteng, South Africa (2019)
Journal Article
Cohen, B., O'REGAN, H., & Steininger, C. (2019). Mongoose Manor: Herpestidae remains from the Early Pleistocene Cooper’s D locality in the Cradle of Humankind, Gauteng, South Africa. Palaeontologia Africana, 53, 97-113

Mongooses (Herpestidae) are an important component of African ecosystems, and a common constituent of southern African fossil assemblages. Despite this, mongoose fossils from the Cradle of Humankind, Gauteng, South Africa, have received relatively li... Read More about Mongoose Manor: Herpestidae remains from the Early Pleistocene Cooper’s D locality in the Cradle of Humankind, Gauteng, South Africa.

Water availability is a principal driver of large-scale land cover spatial heterogeneity in sub-Saharan savannahs (2018)
Journal Article
Marston, C. G., Wilkinson, D. M., Reynolds, S. C., Louys, J., & O’Regan, H. J. (2019). Water availability is a principal driver of large-scale land cover spatial heterogeneity in sub-Saharan savannahs. Landscape Ecology, 34, 131-145. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-018-0750-9

© 2018, The Author(s). Context: The heterogeneous mosaic nature of African savannah vegetation is a key aspect of its ecology. This study evaluates mosaic distributions and characteristics across sub-Saharan Africa, investigating the environmental d... Read More about Water availability is a principal driver of large-scale land cover spatial heterogeneity in sub-Saharan savannahs.

The presence of the brown bear Ursus arctos in Holocene Britain: a review of the evidence (2018)
Journal Article
O'Regan, H. J. (2018). The presence of the brown bear Ursus arctos in Holocene Britain: a review of the evidence. Mammal Review, 48(4), 229-244. https://doi.org/10.1111/mam.12127

1. The brown bear, Ursus arctos, was Holocene Britain’s largest carnivoran and has appeared in recent rewilding discussions.
2. Despite widespread interest, we know very little about the species in Holocene Britain as few studies have been undertake... Read More about The presence of the brown bear Ursus arctos in Holocene Britain: a review of the evidence.

Felidae from Cooper’s Cave, South Africa (Mammalia:Carnivora) (2017)
Journal Article
O'Regan, H. J., & Steininger, C. M. (2017). Felidae from Cooper’s Cave, South Africa (Mammalia:Carnivora). Geodiversitas, 39(2), https://doi.org/10.5252/g2017n2a8

The Cooper’s Cave System has produced a diverse fossil assemblage including the remains of Paranthropus robustus Broom, 1938, and early Homo. The majority of the faunal remains come from Cooper’s D, which dates to ~1.5 – 1.4 Ma. Here we describe 158... Read More about Felidae from Cooper’s Cave, South Africa (Mammalia:Carnivora).

Scrubbing up: multi-scale investigation of woody encroachment in a southern African savannah (2017)
Journal Article
Marston, C. G., Aplin, P., Wilkinson, D. M., Field, R., & O'Regan, H. J. (2017). Scrubbing up: multi-scale investigation of woody encroachment in a southern African savannah. Remote Sensing, 9(5), Article 419. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs9050419

Changes in the extent of woody vegetation represent a major conservation question in many savannah systems around the globe. To address the problem of the current lack of broad-scale cost-effective tools for land cover monitoring in complex savannah... Read More about Scrubbing up: multi-scale investigation of woody encroachment in a southern African savannah.

The missing mushrooms: searching for fungi in ancient human dietary analysis (2016)
Journal Article
O'Regan, H. J., Lamb, A. L., & Wilkinson, D. M. (2016). The missing mushrooms: searching for fungi in ancient human dietary analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science, 75, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2016.09.009

Fungi are a common part of modern human diets, but are rarely discussed in an archaeological context. Power et al. (2015) published data on bolete spores in human tooth calculus, suggesting that Upper Palaeolithic peoples ate mushrooms. Here we brief... Read More about The missing mushrooms: searching for fungi in ancient human dietary analysis.

Hominin home ranges and habitat variability: exploring modern African analogues using remote sensing (2016)
Journal Article
O'Regan, H. J., Wilkinson, D. M., & Marston, C. G. (2016). Hominin home ranges and habitat variability: exploring modern African analogues using remote sensing. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 9, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.06.043

The palaeoanthropological literature contains numerous examples of putative home range sizes associated with various hominin species. However, the resolution of the palaeoenvironmental record seldom allows the quantitative analysis of the effects of... Read More about Hominin home ranges and habitat variability: exploring modern African analogues using remote sensing.

The ‘mosaic habitat’ concept in human evolution: past and present (2015)
Journal Article
Reynolds, S. C., Wilkinson, D. M., Marston, C. G., & O'Regan, H. J. (2015). The ‘mosaic habitat’ concept in human evolution: past and present. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa, 70(1), 57-69. https://doi.org/10.1080/0035919X.2015.1007490

The habitats preferred by hominins and other species are an important theme in palaeoanthropology, and the 'mosaic habitat' (also referred to as habitat heterogeneity) has been a central concept in this regard for the last four decades. Here we explo... Read More about The ‘mosaic habitat’ concept in human evolution: past and present.

Macaques at the margins: the biogeography and extinction of Macaca sylvanus in Europe (2014)
Journal Article
Elton, S., & O'Regan, H. J. (2014). Macaques at the margins: the biogeography and extinction of Macaca sylvanus in Europe. Quaternary Science Reviews, 96, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2014.04.025

The genus Macaca (Primates: Cercopithecidae) originated in Africa, dispersed into Europe in the Late Miocene and resided there until the Late Pleistocene. In this contribution, we provide an overview of the evolutionary history of Macaca in Europe, p... Read More about Macaques at the margins: the biogeography and extinction of Macaca sylvanus in Europe.

The origins and persistence of Homo floresiensis on Flores: biogeographical and ecological perspectives (2013)
Journal Article
Dennell, R. W., Louys, J. L., O'Regan, H. J., & Wilkinson, D. M. (2014). The origins and persistence of Homo floresiensis on Flores: biogeographical and ecological perspectives. Quaternary Science Reviews, 96, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.06.031

The finding of archaeological evidence predating 1 Ma and a small hominin species (Homo floresiensis) on Flores, Indonesia, has stimulated much research on its origins and ancestry. Here we take a different approach and examine two key questions – 1)... Read More about The origins and persistence of Homo floresiensis on Flores: biogeographical and ecological perspectives.