This article presents the York System, a database used for recording animal bones. It is based on the recording protocol used at the Department of Archaeology, University of York, and incorporates that used at the former Environmental Archaeology Unit. The York System has been designed in Access 2000 and includes the commonly identified British mammal, bird, fish, reptile and amphibian species. Emphasis has been placed on database flexibility, within a framework of inter-analyst comparability. The system can be used by experienced zooarchaeologists, while an integrated help file has been included to guide students through the recording process. This article presents the recording protocol behind the database as well as a background to the database design process. A web-based demonstration is provided that replicates the actions of the database, while copies of the database and associated help files are provided for downloading.
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Please send all comments to J. Harland at jfh101@york.ac.uk
[1] Department of Archaeology
University of York
King's Manor
YO1 7EP
[2] Palaeoecology Research Services
[3] Department of Archaeology
University of Durham
[4] Formerly Department of Archaeology, University of York, now McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research University of Cambridge