Micromammals

Unlocking the Potential of Micromammals in Dating

Micromammals, particularly small rodents, play a vital role in understanding the past. Their remains are commonly found in archaeological and fossil sites, and their biological characteristics make them especially valuable for building detailed timelines of environmental and geological change.

Our work explores how these small but significant specimens can be used in new ways, developing methods to test their potential for amino acid dating.

Why Micromammals Matter

Micromammals evolve relatively quickly compared to larger animals. These rapid evolutionary changes mean that different species appear and disappear over shorter time spans, allowing scientists to use them as precise markers for dating sediment layers (a technique known as biostratigraphy).

Because of this, micromammals can help correlate sites across different regions and establish reliable relative chronologies.

Abundant and Accessible Material

Unlike larger fossil remains, micromammal bones and teeth are often found in large quantities within Pleistocene deposits. This abundance ensures that suitable material is usually available for analysis.

They are also generally considered less rare or culturally sensitive than larger faunal remains. As a result, using them in methods that require small amounts of destructive sampling is often more acceptable, both scientifically and ethically.

High-Resolution Environmental Insights

Micromammal species are highly sensitive to environmental conditions such as temperature, vegetation, and habitat type. Their presence (or absence) can reveal subtle changes in past environments.

By studying their diversity and distribution, they can build detailed reconstructions of ancient landscapes, refining both environmental and chronological frameworks at local and regional scales.

Developing New Methods

This project focuses on developing and testing new approaches for sampling micromammal remains, with the aim of assessing their suitability for amino acid dating.

By adapting techniques to work with very small samples, we aim to:

Establish whether micromammals can provide reliable dating results
Minimise damage to valuable collections
Expand the range of materials that can be used for chronological analysis

Towards More Flexible and Scalable Dating

If successful, this work could open up new possibilities for dating sites where traditional materials are scarce or unavailable. The combination of abundant material, fine-scale environmental sensitivity, and improved analytical methods could significantly enhance how we build timelines of the past.

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