Dr Lenny Salvagno

PhD

Department of Archaeology

University Teacher in Zooarchaeology

Dr Lenny Salvagno
Profile picture of Dr Lenny Salvagno
Profile

I graduated at the University of Parma Italy with a dissertation based on a zooarchaeology project. My dissertation focused on the analysis of the animal remains from Sotćiastel, an important Bronze Age fortified site in northern Italy. The results of my work have been published in a dedicated monograph.

In 2011 I moved in Sheffield and, as visiting researcher, I took part to several activities organised by the Zooarchaeology Research Group such as-

  • The curation of the zooarchaeology skeletal collection
  • The preparation of enamel samples from cattle teeth for Sr isotopic analysis (aided by a University Research and Innovation grant)
  • Laboratory demonstration for undergraduate and master students (Modules: 'Introduction to Zooarchaeology' and 'Advanced Zooarchaeology')
  • Lecturing and demonstrating during the zooarchaeology short courses (Understanding Zooarchaeology I and Advanced Zooarchaeology) at the Department of Archaeology University of Sheffield; the publication of a research paper based on the analysis of a large collection of cattle horn cores from an 18th century site Greenwich High Road, London, conducted in collaboration with Dr. Sarah Viner.

In October 2012 I was awarded a combined PhD grant by the University of Sheffield and the AHRC.

My PhD project, conducted under the supervision of Dr. Umberto Albarella, focused on the development of a new methodology based on biometry to distinguish sheep and goat bones and, the application of this method to a number of archaeological assemblages to start clarifying the role that this animal played in England during the Middle Ages.

Two papers stemming from my PhD dissertations have been published, one of these on PLoS One. In addition, the complete dissertation has now been published as a monograph. 
 
In November 2017 I was awarded a 2 year Post-doc grant by the Gerda Henkel Stiftung with a project titled "From pannage to sty keeping: a multi-methodological approach to the study of pig husbandry changes during the Late Medieval - Early Modern transition in England".
 
In April 2020 I started a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (MSCA-IF) at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (Deutschland) titled "Tracking the path of the Agricultural Revolution from England to Continental Europe: changes in pig husbandry from the Late Medieval to Early Modern period as a marker of socio-economic transformation"
Qualifications

I graduated with a degree in archaeology from the University of Parma, Italy, in 2007. The title of my dissertation was "The faunal remain of Sotćiastel (BZ), Italy", and was supervised by Dr. Alessandro Bonardi and Dr. Umberto Tecchiati.

The dissertation focussed on part of the faunal assemblage from a Bronze Age site near Bolzano, North Italy. It was made possible by a scholarship from Claudia Augusta public library of Bolzano and the assignment of the publication of my dissertation.

In 2017 I was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by the University of Sheffield (U.K.)

Research interests

My interests are animal domestication and husbandry intensification, the use of animals in medieval and post-medieval Britain, as well as Bronze and Iron Age Italy, ritual deposits, and the use of statistics and geometric morphometrics in zooarchaeology.

I am also passionate about teaching zooarchaeology and the presentation of this field of study to the general public.

Publications and Conferences

Research Monographs

  • Salvagno, L. 2020. The Neglected Goat: A new methodology to assess the role of goat in the English Middle Ages. Archaeopress Access Archaeology.(https://www.archaeopress.com/ArchaeopressShop/Public/download.asp?id={039A3328-9BAF-40B1-976D-6A15BF0DE04A})

  • Salvagno, L. 2016. The neglected goat: a methodological approach to the understanding of the role of this species in English medieval husbandry. White Rose eThesis Online:(http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/14410/)

  • Salvagno, L. and Tecchiati U. 2011. I resti faunistici del villaggio dell’eta del Bronzo di Sotćiastel: economia e vita di una comunitá protostorica alpina (ca. XVII-XIV sec. a.C.)/ The faunal remains
    from the Bronze Age settlement of Sotćiastel (Bolzano, northern Italy): economy and life of an alpine prehistoric community (ca. XVII-XIV sec. a.C.). Ladinia, San Martin de Tor: Istitut Ladin Micurà de R

Peer-Reviewed Publications

  • Salvagno, L. And Albarella, U. 2019. Was the English medieval goat genuinely rare? A new morphometric approach provides the answer. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-019-00843-2;

  • Tecchiati, U., Salvagno, L. Amato, A., De March, M., Fontana, A., Marconi, S., Rinaldi, G., Zanetti, A.L. 2019. Zooarchaeological evidence of functional and social differentiation in Northern Italy between the Neolithic and Bronze ages. Quaternary International, Special Volume. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2019.04.028.

  • Salvagno, L and Tecchiati, U 2017. resti faunistici dell’abitato del Neolitico Tardo, dell’Età del Bronzo e di Età medievale, moderna e contemporanea di Castelrotto-Grondlboden (BZ). Preistoria Alpina, 49: 37-50.

  • Salvagno L. and Albarella U. 2017. A morphometric system to distinguish between sheep and goat post cranial bones. PLos One 12(6): 1-37.(http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0178543). 

  • Salvagno L., Viner-Daniels S. and Albarella U. 2017. Building and tanning in the 18th and 19th centuries: an analysis of cattle horncores from Greenwich High Road (London). Journal of Post Medieval Archaeology 51(1): 145-163. (http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00794236.2016.1259377)

Peer-reviewed Publications from Conference Proceedings

  • Tecchiati, U., and Salvagno, L. 2019. Deposito rituale o deposito speciale? Il contributo dell’archeozoologia alla definizione dei contesti cultuali: alcuni casi di studio della preistoria e protostoria italiana. Atti dell’ 8° Convegno Nazionale di Archeozoologia (AIAZ. Lecce 11th-14th November): 267-274. DOI Code: 10.1285/i9788883051487p267.

  • Salvagno L. 2014. The role of goat in English medieval husbandry and economy: current challenges and future directions, Assemblage PZAF, 101-110.

  • Salvagno, L., Tecchiati, U., Bianchin Citton, E., and Persichetti, A. 2012. I resti faunistici dell’età del Ferro da Este - Via Caldevigo (PD, Italy). Annali dell'Università degli Studi di Ferrara, Museologia Scientifica e Naturalistica 12/1, Atti del 7° Convegno Nazionale di Archeozoologia. (http://annali.unife.it/museologia/article/view/1324)

Book/Monograph Chapters

  • Salvagno, L. 2013. Micro-mammals. In: Armit, I. & J. McKenzie (eds.) An Inherited Place: Broxmouth hillfort and the southeast Scottish Iron Age. Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 469-471.

  • Salvagno L. 2013. Bird bone. In Armit, I. & J. McKenzie (eds.) An Inherited Place: Broxmouth hillfort and the southeast Scottish Iron Age, Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 471-473.

Other Publications 

  • Tecchiati, U. and Salvagno, L. 2013. Resti faunistici del IV-II sec. a.C. provenienti dal sito di Utijëi/St. Ulrich/Ortisei, Ciamp de Mauriz. Ladinia, XXXVII, San Martin de Tor: Istitut Ladin Micurà de Rü.

  • Salvagno, L. 2009. I resti faunistici. In E. Banzi, M.Livaccari and U.Tecchiati (eds). Villabassa. Atti Accademia Roveretana Agiati, VIII, vol. IX, A, fasc. I, 245

Technical Reports

  • Salvagno, L. 2017. Animal bone from Torksey, Lincolnshire. In: Report on an excavation near Torksey, Lincolnshire, 7-14 November 2016. University of Sheffield and University of York.

  • Salvagno, L. and Albarella, U. 2017. Animal bone from Old Palace Lodge, Church Street, Dunstable, Bedfordshire. KDK Archaeology Ltd. Report.

  • Salvagno, L. 2016. Animal bones at Pirton, Hertfordshire. KDK Archaeology Ltd. Report.

  • Salvagno, L. 2012. Animal bones from Thornton Abbey, tranches A and B (THOR11). University of Sheffield.

  • Salvagno L. and Tecchiati U. 2012. La fauna dell’Età del Bronzo Antico-Medio di Castelrotto,Bolzano

Conference Posters

  • Salvagno L. And Tecchiati U. 2014. The faunal remains from Villa di Villa of Cordignano (TV, Italy): Zooarchaeological insight into a 2nd century B.C. to 1st century A.D. sanctuary: preliminary results. Poster presented at the 1st ICAZ Roman period working group, Sheffield, 20th-22nd November 2014.

  • Salvagno L. 2012. The neglected goat: a methodological approach to the understanding of the role of this species in English medieval husbandry. Poster presented at Postgraduate Zooarchaeology Forum, Sheffield, 3rd-4th November 2012.

  • Salvagno L. 2011. Surplus production, tanning and the use of waste material for construction:  a horn core drain from Greenwich High Road, south east London. Poster presented at the Association for Environmental Archaeology, Amsterdam 21st-23rd October 2011