Thomas Coulton Royle
About
I joined the 4-OCEANS project at NTNU in December 2023 as a Postdoctoral Fellow. I am an archaeologist by training. I received my Honours Bachelor of Science (2012) in Archaeology with a Minor in Biology from Trent University in Ontario, Canada, and my Master of Arts (2014) and Ph.D. (2021) in Archaeology from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada. Prior to joining NTNU, I was a Postdoctoral Fellow (2021–2023) and Sessional Instructor (2020–2021, 2023) in the Department of Archaeology at Simon Fraser University, and Course Instructor (2023) in the Department of Anthropology at Trent University. I maintain an affilitation with the Department of Archaeology at Simon Fraser University as an Adjunct Professor (2023–Present).
My research focuses on using archaeological data to understand the tripartite relationship between humans, fish, and the broader environment, in pre- and post-colonial North America. Reflecting my interest in interdisciplinary research, I draw upon a variety of approaches to investigate this topic. My doctoral research focused on the development and application of DNA-based sex and species identification methods for archaeological fish remains. By integrating these genetic data with Indigenous Ecological Knowledge, my past research has sought to understand the deep history of the resource management and fishing strategies used by Indigenous peoples in northwestern and northeastern North America. As part of my doctoral research, I also documented the use of suckers — a family of freshwater fishes — by Indigenous peoples in northwestern North America by synthesizing published and unpublished ethnographic materials. I also often work closely with specialists in stable isotope analysis and zooarchaeology.
As part of the 4-OCEANS project, I will be continuing to research the relationship between humans and fish in North America. Currently, I am compiling a database of zooarchaeological assemblages from eastern North America that contain identified fish remains. Through the meta-analysis of these datasets, I will be investigating how the use of different fish taxa in eastern North America varied across time, space, and cultures, as well as the effects of climate change and human activities on aquatic ecosystems. I am thrilled to be joining 4-OCEANS. The project’s interdisciplinary focus and broad temporal and geographic focus provide newfound opportunities for a more holistic understanding of marine resource exploitation and its effects on a global scale.
Publications
Royle, Thomas C.A., J. Ryan Kennedy, Eric J. Guiry, Luke S. Jackman, Yuka Shichiza, and Dongya Y. Yang. 2024. Sharkaeology: Expanding Understandings of Historical Chinese Diaspora Shark Fisheries in Monterey Bay, California, through the Genetic Species Identification of Archaeological Chondrichthyes Remains. Human Ecology 52(3):479–495. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-024-00521-5
Orchard, Trevor J., Alicia Hawkins, Suzanne Needs-Howarth, Louis Lesage, Eric Guiry, and Thomas C.A. Royle. 2023. Considering Extinct, Extirpated, and Endangered Species in the Zooarchaeological Record of Southern Ontario. Arch Notes: The Newsletter of the Ontario Archaeological Society 28(1–2):5–21. https://ontarioarchaeology.org/wp-content/uploads/ArchNotes-JanJun2023.pdf
Orchard, Trevor J., Suzanne Needs-Howarth, Alicia L. Hawkins, Louis Lesage, Eric J. Guiry, and Thomas C.A. Royle. 2023. Considering Passenger Pigeon Abundance and Distribution in the Late Woodland Zooarchaeological Record of Southern Ontario, Canada. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 33(4):608–618. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3163
Royle, Thomas C.A., Eric J. Guiry, Hua Zhang, Lauren T. Clark, Shalegh M. Missal, Sophie A. Rabinow, Margaretta James, and Dongya Y. Yang. 2022. Documenting the Short-tailed Albatross (Phoebastria albatrus) Clades Historically Present in British Columbia, Canada, through Ancient DNA Analysis of Archaeological Specimens. Ecology and Evolution 12(8): e9116. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.9116
Guiry, Eric J., Margaretta James, Christina Cheung, and Thomas C.A. Royle. 2022. Four Millennia of Long-Term Individual Foraging Site Fidelity in a Highly Migratory Marine Predator. Communications Biology 5: 368. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-03310-2
Wang, Yongdi, Yang Sun, Thomas C.A. Royle, Xinyu Zhang, Zhuowei Tang, Lauren T. Clark, Xin Zhao, Dawei Cai, and Dongya Y. Yang. 2022. Ancient DNA Investigation of the Domestication History of Pigs in Northeast China. Journal of Archaeological Science 141: 105590. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2022.105590
Morin, Jesse, Thomas C.A. Royle, Hua Zhang, Camilla Speller, Miguel Alcaide, Ryan Morin, Morgan Ritchie, Aubrey Cannon, Michael George, Michelle George, and Dongya Y. Yang. 2021. Indigenous Sex-Selective Salmon Harvesting Demonstrates Pre-Contact Marine Resource Management in Burrard Inlet, British Columbia, Canada. Scientific Reports 11: 21160. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-00154-4
Royle, Thomas C.A. 2021. The Use and Cultural Importance of Suckers (Catostomidae Cope, 1871) among the Indigenous Peoples of Northwestern North America: An Ethnographic Overview. Journal of Northwest Anthropology 55(2):299–326. https://northwestanthropology.com/s/JONA552FINALWEB.pdf
Morin, Jesse, Hua Zhang, Thomas C.A. Royle, Camilla Speller, Miguel Alcaide, Ryan Morin, and Dongya Y. Yang. 2021. DNA-based Species Identification of Ancient Salmonid Remains Provides New Insight into Pre-Contact Coast Salish Salmon Fisheries in Burrard Inlet, British Columbia, Canada. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 37:102956. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.102956
Guiry, Eric J., Trevor J. Orchard, Thomas C.A. Royle, Christina Cheung, and Dongya Y. Yang. 2020. Dietary Plasticity and the Extinction of the Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius). Quaternary Science Reviews 233:106225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106225
Guiry, Eric J., Thomas C.A. Royle, R.G. Matson, Hillary Ward, Tyler Weir, Nicholas Waber, Thomas J. Brown, Brian Hunt, Michael H.H. Price, Bruce P. Finney, Masahide Kaeriyama, Yuxue Qin, Dongya Y. Yang, and Paul Szpak. 2020. Differentiating Salmonid Migratory Ecotypes through Stable Isotope Analysis of Collagen: Archaeological and Ecological Applications. PLOS One 15(4):e0232180. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0232180
Guiry, Eric J., Thomas C.A. Royle, Trevor J. Orchard, Suzanne Needs-Howarth, Dongya Y. Yang, and Paul Szpak. 2020. Evidence for Freshwater Residency among Lake Ontario Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) Spawning in New York. 2020. Journal of Great Lakes Research 46(4):1036–1043. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2020.05.009
Royle, Thomas C.A., Dongya Y. Yang, and Jonathan C. Diver. 2020. Ancient DNA Reveals Northwest Range Extension of Richardson’s Ground Squirrel (Urocitellus richardsonii) into Northeastern British Columbia, Canada, during the Late Pleistocene. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 57(7):855–866. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjes-2018-0189
Royle, Thomas C.A., Hua Zhang, Eric J. Guiry, Trevor J. Orchard, Suzanne Needs-Howarth, and Dongya Y. Yang. 2020. Investigating the Sex-Selectivity of a Middle Ontario Iroquoian Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) and Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush) Fishery through Ancient DNA Analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 31:102301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102301
Szpak, Paul, Marie-Hélène Julien, Thomas C.A. Royle, James M. Savelle, Dongya Y. Yang, and Michael P. Richards. 2020. Sexual Differences in the Foraging Ecology of 19th Century Beluga Whales (Delphinapterus leucas) from the Canadian High Arctic. Marine Mammal Science 36(2):451–471. https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12655
Cai, Dawei, Naifan Zhang, Siqi Zhu, Quanjia Chen, Lixin Wang, Xin Zhao, Xiaolin Ma, Thomas C.A. Royle, Hui Zhou, and Dongya Y. Yang. 2018. Ancient DNA Reveals Evidence of Abundant Aurochs (Bos primigenius) in Neolithic Northeast China. Journal of Archaeological Science 98:72–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2018.08.003
Royle, Thomas C.A., Dionne Sakhrani, Camilla F. Speller, Virginia L. Butler, Robert H. Devlin, Aubrey Cannon, and Dongya Y. Yang. 2018. An Efficient and Reliable DNA-Based Sex Identification Method for Archaeological Pacific Salmonid (Oncorhynchus spp.) Remains. PLOS One 13(3):e0193212. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0193212
2024
-
Royle, Thomas Coulton;
Kennedy, J. Ryan;
Guiry, Eric J.;
Jackman, Luke S.;
Shichiza, Yuka;
Yang, Dongya Y..
(2024)
Sharkaeology: Expanding Understandings of Historical Chinese Diaspora Shark Fisheries in Monterey Bay, California, through the Genetic Species Identification of Archaeological Chondrichthyes Remains.
Human Ecology
Academic article
Journal publications
-
Royle, Thomas Coulton;
Kennedy, J. Ryan;
Guiry, Eric J.;
Jackman, Luke S.;
Shichiza, Yuka;
Yang, Dongya Y..
(2024)
Sharkaeology: Expanding Understandings of Historical Chinese Diaspora Shark Fisheries in Monterey Bay, California, through the Genetic Species Identification of Archaeological Chondrichthyes Remains.
Human Ecology
Academic article