site.btaSofia to Host Second Medieval Period Working Group Meeting of International Council for Archaeozoology in October

The Sofia History Museum will host the second Medieval Period Working Group Meeting of the International Council for Archaeozoology (ICAZ) on October 2-6, 2024, the National Archaeological Institute with Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (NAIM-BAS) said. The meeting will be held in a conference format and focus on animals of the Middle Ages (7th-16th century AD). It will be the first conference on archaeozoology to take place in Bulgaria. 

The event will bring together researchers from Europe, Central Asia, and the US working on medieval faunal assemblages. 

Two keynote speakers have been confirmed. The first speaker, Dr. David Orton of the University of York, will present his research on small fauna (fish and rodents) and the RATUS project, which focuses on medieval trade routes and the spread of the plague in Europe. The second keynote speaker, Prof. Zlatozar Boev of the National Museum of Natural History at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (NMNH-BAS), will discuss birds in medieval Bulgarian assemblages.

The event's sponsors are NAIM-BAS, NMNH-BAS, and the Sofia History Museum.

The International Council for Archaeozoology is the biggest non-profit organization of archaeozoologists, with more than 500 members from 62 countries. ICAZ gives faunal analysts the opportunity to hold working group meetings, network, exchange research, and support students eager to attend scientific forums in the field.