Internet Archaeol 11. Oxley.

Generally 'pale' seems to be a successor to 'brown' in the decay pathway.
Sample 8013 showed decay which was apparently different from the remainder of the material.
The fossils appeared 'dull' in an undefinable way, possibly a result of separate 'darkening' and 'paling' processes.

Context	Sample	Approx. beetle/bug MNI	Approx. no. other insects	Enough to estimate preservation?	Any completely rotted?	Erosion	Fragmentation	Colour change	Others
1004	10001	20-30	few 10s	borderline	no	3.0-4.0 continuous	3	brown 1-4 continuous, mode 4	some pale
	10002	20-30	few 10s	borderline	no	4	4	brown 2-3 continuous, even	hints of yellow, ?following brown
	10003	<10	few	borderline	perhaps	3.5	3.5	some yellow 4 some brown 2
	10004	10-20	few	borderline	yes	4.5	3	brown 3 pale 2	?pale; many thinned
1017	10005	10-20	few	yes	no	2.0-4.0 continuous	1.5	brown 0-1 continuous	1 ?rolled Aphodius
	10006	<10	few	borderline	no	4	3.5	brown 2	1 yellowed
1020	10007	<10	few 10s	borderline	no	2.5	1.5	brown 1 all	guestimates
	10008	<10	few 10s	no	no	0	0	brown 2	cracking (trace)
1025	10009	<10	few	borderline	no	3.5-4.5 continuous	3	pale 0-3 continuous
	10010	<10	few	no	no	0	0	brown 2
1026	10011	10-20	few	borderline	perhaps	4	3.5	yellow 0-1 continuous, brown 0-3 continuous	pale 0-3
	10012	<10	few	borderline	no	3.5	3	brown 0-2 continuous	pale 0-3
	10013	<10	none	no	no	0	0	-	-
1032	10014	<10	few	borderline	yes	5	0	brown 2-3
1033	10015	10-20	few	borderline	perhaps	4	4	brown 2 (most)	pale 2 (most)
1101	20001	10-20	few 10s	yes	perhaps some	4.5	2	yellow 2 brown 2	pale 1-3 continuous; continuous variation between colours
	20002	20-30	few 10s	yes	perhaps	1.0-3.5, mode 1.0	1.0-2.0	brown 0-1, mostly 1	small number darkened and some yellow 2
1102	20003	20-30	few 10s	yes	perhaps	2.5-3.5 continuous	1.5-2.0 continuous	brown 2 most	most distinctly pale
1104	20004	10-20	few 10s	yes	no	4	3	brown 2 all	most pale 0-3 continuous; 1 mineralised
1105	20005	20-30	few 10s	yes	perhaps	4	3	brown 0-3 continuous	most pale 0-3; 1 mineralised
1106	20006	10-20	few 10s	yes	no	1.5-4.5 continuous	1.0-2.0 continuous	brown 0-3	pale 0-2
1111	20007	10-20	few	yes	no	3.5	2.0-4.0 continuous	brown 1-2 continuous (most)	some pale
	20008	10-20	few 10s	yes	no	3.5	3	brown 1-2 continuous (most)	some pale
1114	20009	20-30	few 10s	yes	no	3	3	brown 2 (most)	some darkened
	20010	20-30	few 10s	yes	no	3.5	2	brown 2 (50%)	some dark 2, some yellow 2
1115	20011	20-30	several 10s	yes	no	2.0-3.5 continuous	3	brown 1 (50%)	some dark 1, some pale 2
	20012	<10	several 10s	yes	no	3	0	brown 1 (most)	some dark 2
1116	20014	10-20	few hundreds	yes	no	2.0-4.0 continuous	0	brown 2 (most)	hint of yellow in brown; some dark 1
1120	20015	10-20	few	yes	no	4	3	brown 2 (most)	hint of yellow in brown; some pale 3 (rarely zoned)
1004	30001	20-30	few 10s	yes	no	4	1.5	brown 3-4 continuous, mode 4	some zoned: hint of yellow in brown; some pale 1; trace local holing
	30002	30-50	several 10s	yes	no	2.5-4.0 continuous	3	brown 1-4 continuous	trace pale 4, zoned; trace mineralised
1008	30003	10-20	few	borderline	perhaps	3.5-4.0 continuous	4	brown 2	several zoned pale; trace pitting
1014	30004	30-50	few 10s	yes	no	2.0-4.0 continuous	3	brown 1-3	hints of yellow in brown; some pale 1, trace zoned
1020	30005	10-20	few	borderline	no	3	2.5	brown 2 (most)	trace pitting
1032	30006	20-30	few 10s	yes	no	2.0-4.0 continuous	0	brown 1-3 most	hints of yellow in brown; half fossils pale 3; trace pitting
1107	40002	10-20	few	borderline	yes, many	4	3.0-4.0 continuous	brown 2	thinning (several)
	40003	10-20	few 10s	yes	yes, many	4.5	0	brown 0-3 continuous	pale 0-3 continuous; trace cracking, few thinned
1109	40004	20-30	few	borderline	perhaps	2.5-4.0 continuous	2.5	brown 2	pale 2; trace thinning
1121	40005	<10	few 10s	yes	perhaps	3	0	brown 0-1 continuous	pale 0-3 continuous
Boreholes
BH2 0.68-1.6m	2002	10-20	few 10s	yes	no	2.5-3.5 continuous	2.5	brown 1 (about one-fifth)	pale 2 (about one-fifth); trace with zonal paling
BH2 2.50-2.55m	2007	10-20	few 10s	yes	no	3.0-4.0 continuous	3.0-4.0 continuous	brown 2-3 continuous	some pale 1
BH8 1.95-2.15m	8001	<10	few	borderline	no	3.5	4.5	brown 1 (most)	?chlorophyll extracted into alcohol
BH8 2.15-2.28m	8002	<10	none	no	perhaps	0	0	-	-
BH8 2.45-2.70m	8004	10-20	few 10s	yes	no	3	2	brown 1 (most)	1 rolled/folded Aphodius
BH8 3.22-3.48m	8005	10-20	few 10s	yes	no	1.5-3.0 continuous, evenly distributed	1.5	brown 1 (about half)	some dark 1; trace fresh, 'oily'
BH8 3.50-3.59m	8006	20-30	several 10s	yes	no	4	3	brown 2 (general)	trace dark 1
BH8 3.95-4.50m	8007	20-30	few 10s	yes	no	2.5-4.0 ?bimodal at extremes	4	brown 1 (most)
BH8 4.75-4.95m	8008	<10	few	no	-	0	0	-	-
BH8 4.95-5.35m	8009	<10	few	borderline	no	?3.0	0	-	-
BH8 5.35-5.50m	8010	<10	few	borderline	no	?3.0	0	-	-
BH8 6.45-6.70m	8013	20-30	few 10s	yes	no	2	2.0-3.0 continuous	pale 2 (?most)	trace dark 1
Context	Sample	Approx. beetle/bug MNI	Approx. no. other insects	Enough to estimate preservation?	Any completely rotted?	Erosion	Fragmentation	Colour change	Others

Insect preservation

Table 17: 44-45 Parliament Street, York: record of preservation of insect remains