12 Oct 2025
Collection
Public
Active
Iain McKechnie | Researcher
Zooarchaeological comparative collections, like natural history collections, hold latent information, extend capacity as linked data scaffolds, and are fundamental, not only to archaeological research on human-animal relationships but, to biodiversity, conservation, and related contemporary and Indigenous management practices. Accessible digital information about specimens in these smaller, and usually regional, collections remain rare but can advance integrative synthetic research through links to taxonomic classifications, languages, as well as geospatial, biometric data, and 3D models and imagery. This project presents a framework for open comparative collection curation, enhanced zooarchaeological practices, and transdisciplinary collaboration by transforming the physical archive describing the comparative osteology specimens at the University of Victoria Zooarchaeology Lab into open “extended specimens” for 2,922 individual animals representing 671 distinct species. This diverse regional collection influentially informs zooarchaeological identifications for assemblages from sites across the North Pacific Coast and western North America. This research synthesizes information about the comparative collection including the development and application of data management, annotation, and publishing methods following FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reuseable) principles to facilitate broader collection discovery and use. To achieve this, open data standards are adopted to uncover, broaden, and add depth to each skeletal specimen and enable integrative biodiversity repository publishing. This process creates citable “extended specimens” and ensures comparability by standardizing vocabulary and terminology, and annotating with life history stages, collection locations, and specimen specific details. Additionally, a geocoding tool has been developed that connects Indigenous language areas and specimen collection locations. This work supports Indigenous data governance protocols following CARE (Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, Ethics) principles and engages with Indigenous data platforms to confront how colonial practices are reflected in the creation and uses of anthropological and archaeological knowledge. This augmented collection seeks to bridge relationships with Indigenous communities whose legacies of engagement with archaeology has shaped, and continues to shape and enrich, landscapes and seascapes in the past, present, and future. This contribution to open science seeks to respect Indigenous data sovereignty by considering FAIR and CARE principles to create a digital resource that connects audiences and enhances zooarchaeological research capacity.
Local Contexts Project ID
b6517105-c66a-43af-996c-abec4b3d228a
Project URL
https://localcontextshub.org/projects/b6517105-c66a-43af-996c-abec4b3d228a
Collections and items in our institution have incomplete, inaccurate, and/or missing attribution. We are using this notice to clearly identify this material so that it can be updated, or corrected by communities of origin. Our institution is committed to collaboration and partnerships to address this problem of incorrect or missing attribution.
Certaines collections ou items dans nos institutions ont des attributions incomplètes, inexactes ou manquantes. Nous utilisons cette notification afin d’identifier clairement ce matériel pour qu’il soit mis à jour ou corrigé par les communautés d’origine. Notre institution s’est engagée à collaborer et à travailler en partenariat avec ces communautés afin de résoudre le problème d’attributions inexactes ou manquantes.
The BC (Biocultural) Notice is a visible notification that there are accompanying cultural rights and responsibilities that need further attention for any future sharing and use of this material or data. The BC Notice recognizes the rights of Indigenous Peoples to permission the use of information, collections, data and digital sequence information (DSI) generated from the biodiversity or genetic resources associated with traditional lands, waters, and territories. The BC Notice may indicate that BC Labels are in development and their implementation is being negotiated.
La notification BC sert à rendre visible l’information selon laquelle le matériel utilisé est accompagné de droits culturels et de responsabilités qui nécessitent une attention particulière au moment de le partager ou de l’utiliser. La notification BC est une reconnaissance des droits des peuples autochtones de permettre l’utilisation d’informations, de collections, de données et d’informations sur les séquences numériques provenant de la biodiversité et des ressources associées à leurs terres, cours d’eau et territoires traditionnels. La notification BC peut indiquer que les étiquettes BC (bioculturelles) sont en cours de réalisation et que leur application est en train d’être négociée. Pour plus d’information à propos des étiquettes BC, consulter le site https://localcontexts.org/notices/biocultural-notices/.
The TK (Traditional Knowledge) Notice is a visible notification that there are accompanying cultural rights and responsibilities that need further attention for any future sharing and use of this material. The TK Notice may indicate that TK Labels are in development and their implementation is being negotiated.
La notification ST sert à rendre visible l’information selon laquelle des droits culturels et des responsabilités sont rattachés au matériel en question et qu’une attention particulière doit être portée à tout partage ou toute utilisation future du matériel. La notification ST peut indiquer que les étiquettes ST (savoir traditionnel) sont en cours de réalisation et que leur application est en train d’être négociée. Pour plus d’information à propos des étiquettes ST, consulter le site https://localcontexts.org/notice/tk-notice/.
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