Archive:
Resources
These resources are a rolling Box Office Bears exhibition. Here, you can explore some of the materials and texts left behind by early modern bears, dogs, bulls, and humans. Each resource offers research insights, material descriptions, and glimpses into the world of sixteenth- and seventeenth- century England. They also include prompts for further study or for classroom use.
Part of the ‘Box Office Bears’ Project research includes ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis of the animals involved in the baiting themselves – namely bears and dogs. This image shows us sampling skeletal material for ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis, at the PalaeoBARN Laboratory at the University of Oxford.
This extraordinary document is the diary of an unnamed “Bearward” – the term used to describe individuals who looked after and journeyed with a bear (or, as here, multiple bears) around England, showing the game of bearbaiting.