Historical baselines of ecological states can improve the interpretation of current anthropogenically induced change. Such baselines have already shown their value as a guide to modern day management and conservation . Records of fish landings and imports have, for example, been used to reconstruct past fish abundance and size [2–7]. Zoo-archaeological material of exploited animal populations may be particularly useful for reconstructing historical baselines  as they provide a population level link between written historical sources and paleo-environmental data series.