Interpreting the immature chicken bones from the Romano-British ritual complex on West Hill,Uley

The prehistoric to post-Roman site of West Hill, Uley in southwestern Britain was excavated between 1976 and 1979, and yielded a quarter of a million animal bones. Part of the site was a ritual complex, and this in particular produced a considerable amount of domestic fowl. A major problem has been to evaluate the immature domestic fowl bones and determine whether all ages are represented. This presents problems because the varieties of fowl represented are unknown. Therefore, can the osteometric data be seen as homogeneous? In fact the distribution of adult measurements suggests that one variety was mainly represented, that a wide range of ages of fowl were sacrificed, and that the selection of birds was probably not entirely random. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The domestic fowl and other birds from the Roman site of Mons Claudianus,Egypt

At the Roman quarry settlement of Mons Claudianus in the Eastern Desert of Egypt extreme aridity has preserved large amounts of organic matter. Amongst the faunal remains were several hundred bird bones, together with feathers and egg shell. The majority of the bird bones have been identified as domestic fowl Gallus gallus. Other species are rare: they include a few passage migrants and resident species. Finds of spurred tarsometatarsi and bones with medullary deposits indicate that both male and female domestic fowl are represented. It is likely that they were transported to the site from the Nile valley alive; some may have been kept at the settlement. Cut marks suggest that some at least were eaten, but the birds may have been used for different purposes, both secular and ritual. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bird Remains from Two Sites on the Red Sea Coast and some Observations on Medullary Bone

This paper discusses the bird remains found in the Roman levels of the military fort of ‘Abu Sha’ ar and of the ancient harbour of Berenike. Food procurement was essentially based on wild resources at ‘Abu Sha’ ar and this is also reflected in the bird remains. Only 28 per cent of the bird bones at the low status site of ‘Abu Sha’ ar are from domestic fowl, whereas at the commercially important town of Berenike 92 per cent were. Medullary bone was present in 66 per cent of the 161 chicken remains at Berenike. The occurrence and formation of medullary bone in modern domestic fowl is discussed and possibilites from its study in the chicken remains from Berenike are presented.     

Ancient breeds of domestic fowl (Gallus gallus f. domestica) distinguished on the basis of traditional observations combined with mixture analysis

Using a large assemblage of domestic fowl bones from a classical site, a methodology is presented that allows the recognition of breeds. The approach differs from previous research in which tarsometatarsi were used exclusively. In the present paper, frequency histograms of long bone lengths and mixture analysis were combined with observations on medullary bone development. By concentrating on the analysis of bones with medullary bone, only the securely sexed part of the population (the females) is considered, thereby avoiding problems related to the use of spur development in tarsometatarsi. Three breeds of different sizes could be recognized, of which the smallest shows a high incidence of spurred females.     

Avian resources at a Mexican site at the time of the Spanish Conquest

The time of the Spanish Conquest in America saw a major biological interchange caused by human action. In the native people it was expressed by major changes in the use of animals, due to the introduction of domestic European fauna. This theme is discussed here based on a review of ethnohistorical sources and a small body of recent archaeological evidence. An analysis is presented of the use of birds at a Mexican settlement inhabited in the sixteenth century at the time of Spanish contact. The bird remains, 456 fragments, are from the site of El Japon, southeast of Mexico City. The main avian resources were domestic fowl, Gallus gallus, turkey, Meleagris gallopavo, and four species of ducks. The exploitation of scrub jay, Apheolocoura coerulescens is recorded for the first time in Mexican archaeo-ornithology. The study confirms ethnohistorical information about the introduction of the domestic fowl, but also shows that native resources were more widely used than is known from the chronicles of the sixteenth century. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Developmental Osteology of Cross‐bred Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus L. 1758) and the Implications for Ageing Chickens from Archaeological Sites

We document the developmental osteology of a captive population of cross‐bred red junglefowl (Gallus gallus L. 1758) that were slaughtered at known ages from 6 days old until they reached maturity and explore the relationships that exist between bone size, maturity, body weight and sex. In doing so, we contribute to the body of knowledge concerning developmental osteology in domestic fowl, which has previously focussed upon ‘improved’ breeds. Comparison with archaeological material demonstrates that regression equations developed from the study population to determine age from bone length measurements are unreliable, even when samples with similar mean size for adult birds are compared. However, greater understanding of the maturity of domestic fowl more ‘primitive’ than most comparative material available for study is used to assist in the assignation of three age classes—chick, immature and adult—and thus facilitate more nuanced analyses of age‐at‐death patterns in faunal assemblages. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Avian egg-shell from archaeological sites

Avian egg-shell occurs fairly commonly on archaeological sites, particularly in alkaline deposits. It is rarely studied in detail. Egg-shell structure is described briefly below and features which may be of value for identification purposes are discussed. Egg-shells from 14 archaeological sites are tentatively identified as goose, domestic fowl, duck and guinea fowl. It seems likely that confident identification should ultimately be possible using a combination of features. This should yield information complementary to osteological evidence for the history of the utilization of birds and their eggs.     

Transition from hunting to animal husbandry in Southern,Western and Eastern Finland: new dated osteological evidence

The beginning of animal husbandry in Finland is one of the most debated topics in Finnish archaeology. For this study a total of 69 bone materials from archaeological sites in Southern, Western and Eastern Finland, dating from the Middle Neolithic to the Early Metal Period, were analysed: 52 represented identifiable animal bones. These data were complemented with those from previously analysed bone materials. A total of 19 domestic animal bones were radiocarbon-dated to determine their connection with a particular cultural period. However, 13 of them proved to belong to the historical and not the prehistoric period, emphasizing the importance of radiocarbon-dating and context awareness when interpreting prehistoric bone materials. Among the radiocarbon-dated material were the oldest dated sheep, cattle and horse bones in Finland. The oldest radiocarbon-dated domestic animal bone in Finland, from sheep or goat, derives from the Late Stone Age Kiukainen Culture site, while cattle and horse bones date to the Bronze Age. This is later than expected. However, the available material does not exclude the possibility that some animal husbandry was practised in Finland earlier. Nevertheless, domestic animal bones are rare in samples dated to the cultural periods studied, while hunting and fishing represented important subsistence activities.     

Avian taphonomy: observations at two Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) breeding colonies and their implications for the fossil record

Actualistic studies on vertebrate taphonomy have centred on mammals, and to a much lesser extent on flying birds. Members of the Spheniscidae are anatomically specialized making it problematic to make direct inferences from previous taphonomic work. Modern bone assemblages from two Spheniscus magellanicus breeding colonies on the southern Atlantic coast of continental Patagonia, Argentina, were surveyed on foot along linear transects, and features were determined that are useful in interpreting the fossil record. Present day bone accumulations have specific properties resulting from penguin anatomy and osteology as well as from the composition of the vertebrate community and regional environmental conditions. Most salient are the high spatial density of bones, the dominance of Spheniscidae remains over those of other vertebrates, the high percentage of disarticulated bones, the predominance of limb bones, the low frequencies of carnivore bone modifications, and the abundance of fractured bones. Many of these features observed in the modern assemblages can be identified in fossil avian bone deposits.     

Examining criteria for identifying and differentiating fossil faunal assemblages accumulated by hyenas and hominins using extant hyenid accumulations

Numerous authors have put forth criteria for distinguishing between assemblages collected by hyenas and hominins. Of the seven most recognised criteria used to distinguish hyenid from hominin assemblages, it has recently been suggested that four be rejected and three retained. The four rejected criteria are: an excessive proportion of horns and horn cores in hyena accumulated assemblages; the absence of small, hard, compact bones; mortality profiles; and the ratio of cranial bones to postcranial bones. The three criteria previous researchers suggested be retained are: a carnivore MNI ratio of ≥20%; an abundance of cylinder fragments; and hyena‐inflicted damage upon the bones. In this examination of over 27,000 faunal remains associated with all three species of extant bone‐collecting hyenids from four countries and two continents, six of the seven previously established criteria and reconsiderations of criteria have been evaluated. The results of the present study indicate that of the six criteria examined, none, as written, are indicative of hyenid activity on bone assemblages of unknown origin. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cats of the Pharaohs: Genetic Comparison of Egyptian Cat Mummies to their Feline Contemporaries

The ancient Egyptians mummified an abundance of cats during the Late Period (664 - 332 BC). The overlapping morphology and sizes of developing wildcats and domestic cats confounds the identity of mummified cat species. Genetic analyses should support mummy identification and was conducted on two long bones and a mandible of three cats that were mummified by the ancient Egyptians. The mummy DNA was extracted in a dedicated ancient DNA laboratory at the University of California - Davis, then directly sequencing between 246 and 402 bp of the mtDNA control region from each bone. When compared to a dataset of wildcats (Felis silvestris silvestris, F. s. tristrami, and F. chaus) as well as a previously published worldwide dataset of modern domestic cat samples, including Egypt, the DNA evidence suggests the three mummies represent common contemporary domestic cat mitotypes prevalent in modern Egypt and the Middle East. Divergence estimates date the origin of the mummies' mitotypes to between two and 7.5 thousand years prior to their mummification, likely prior to or during Egyptian Predyanstic and Early Dynastic Periods. These data are the first genetic evidence supporting that the ancient Egyptians used domesticated cats, F. s. catus, for votive mummies, and likely implies cats were domesticated prior to extensive mummification of cats.     

Assessing Protocols for Identifying Pacific Island Archaeological Fish Remains: The Contribution of Vertebrae

Three fish bone identification protocols used for determining taxa composition for Pacific island archaeofaunal assemblages are evaluated. The protocols include using the following: (1) the most commonly identified five paired cranial bones and ‘specials’ or unique elements; (2) an expanded number of cranial bones; and (3) the less common inclusion of all vertebrae. Explicit identification and quantification protocols are outlined for systematically incorporating all vertebrae which, predictably, increases the number of identified specimens for an assemblage, thus providing more bones useful for reconstructing live fish biomass (weight and length). Significantly, a range of unique archaeological vertebrae are useful for calculating minimum number of individuals. Using a well‐preserved assemblage from Henderson Island, Pitcairn Group, southeast Polynesia, numbering 6480 fish bones (concentration index = 21 580 m³), we demonstrate differences in rank‐order abundance from three taxon identification protocols. For example, when using all vertebrae grouper (Serranidae) and surgeonfishes (Acanthuridae) are more numerically equivalent than when relying mostly on cranial bones for identification for minimum number of individuals and number of identified specimens. This has important implications for making comparisons between sites or across regions where different identification protocols were used. This pilot study demonstrates that using all vertebrae for taxon identification and quantification, not just unique hypurals (terminal vertebrae) or those from sharks and rays (Elasmobranchii), should be standard practice for identifying a greater number of bones to taxon and thereby providing better reconstructions of prehistoric fishing and subsistence practices in the Pacific. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

食谱分析方法在家猪起源研究中的应用

驯化初期的家猪与野猪的鉴别是家猪起源研究的核心问题,对于准确定位家猪的起源时间和地点具有十分重要的意义。本文首先对陕北靖边五庄果墚遗址、吉林通化万发波子遗址出土的猪骨及其他动物骨骼进行了C、N稳定同位素分析,分析人类活动对猪食物结构的影响,证明了由于人类的饲喂,驯化的家猪与野猪的食物结构存在显著的差异,利用这种差异,可以有效地进行家猪与野猪的鉴别。在此基础上,对安徽蚌埠双墩遗址出土的猪骨和其他动物骨骼进行了食谱分析,并结合形态学鉴定结果,判断该遗址中已经出现了驯化初期的家猪。     

A taphonomic study of bone modification and of tooth‐mark patterns on long limb bone portions by suids

This work presents new taphonomic data on bone modification by suids, including domestic pig, wild and hybrid boars. The intense modification undergone by bones from animals smaller than 100 kg is shown, together with a more moderate modification on bones from larger animals. Both the ravaging pattern (with preferential deletion of cancellous tissue) and the tooth‐marking frequencies are similar to those documented among hyenas and dogs when having primary access to complete bones. A dual‐patterned experimental model consisting of the interaction of humans and suids was also considered. Here it is shown how suid modification of hammerstone‐broken bone assemblages is different from that documented among canids and hyaenids, as experimentally replicated. These results increase the number of non‐anthropogenic bone‐modifying agents and posit new issues on equifinality processes. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Abundant Gifts of Stone and Bone

An abundance of points, flakes, bones, shells, and bodies is considered sufficient to raise the hypothesis that these offerings and their places constitute a type of fertility shrine. This paper documents several possible lithic and bone-offering places in eastern North America, among them Allumettes Island, Quebec; Tick Creek Cave, Missouri; James Creek, West Virginia; and Pen Point, South Carolina. Perhaps the most significant Late Archaic shrine marked by an abundance of points, deer bones, and human burials is Indian Knoll, Kentucky. The proposed fertility or increase rite practiced was that for a hunt god.     

Why so many wings? A re-examination of avian skeletal part representation in the south-central Northwest Coast,USA

Ten years ago, I summarized hypotheses for the abundance of bird wing elements in archaeological sites and rejected the hypothesis that differential preservation caused this pattern in the Pacific Northwest Coast (Bovy, 2002). I also noted that distal wing elements (relative to proximal wings) dominated several assemblages in the Gulf of Georgia sub-region. I re-examine this issue, focusing on behavioral hypotheses for the abundance of distal wings. Ethnographic evidence is used to formulate predictions for the cultural explanations, which are tested using data from the late Holocene Watmough Bay (45SJ280) site, where distal wings comprise 98% of the large duck assemblage (n = 4195). Diving ducks, dabbling ducks, geese, loons and grebes all have more distal wing bones than expected, and were likely caught using submerged nets. The most plausible explanation for the prevalence of distal wing bones is either that only the distal wings were transported back to the sites (perhaps attached to skins) and/or the distal wings were discarded separately during cooking.     

A Metrical Analysis of a Collection of Modern Goats (Capra hircus aegargus and C. h. hircus) from Iran and Iraq: Implications for the Study of Caprine Domestication

A critical comparison of two commonly used markers of initial animal domestication, size reduction and demographic profiling, is presented. A metrical analysis of a large collection of modern wild and domestic goats (Capra hircus aegargus and C. h. hircus) from Iran and Iraq clearly demonstrates that sex is by far the most significant factor affecting size in goats. In all post-cranial bones examined, those of males, even the unfused bones of males over 1 year of age, are absolutely larger than the bones of females. Region also plays a significant role in the size of these animals, but domestic status seems to have little impact. Similarly, a re-analysis of archaeological assemblages from Upland Sites the eastern fertile crescent shows no evidence of population-wide size reduction over a period that encompasses the transition from hunting to herding goats in the region, from the Middle Palaeolithic to the Early Neolithic. The apparent rapid reduction in the size of caprines during the early phases of domestication noted in earlier studies is likely attributable to a shift in the sex ratio of the adult breeding population of managed herds towards female domination, plus the differential destruction and loss of the bones of male animals killed at younger ages, as well as biases introduced by standard methodological practices. Building on the earlier work of Hesse, and using the empirical understanding of the factors influencing size in modern goats gained in this study, a new approach is proposed that combines both size and long-bone fusion data to construct high resolution, sex-specific age profiles of male and female goats that can be used to detect the hunting to herd management transition which marks the initial stages of the domestication process.     

Evidence of Cat (Felis catus) Fur Exploitation in Medieval Iberia

Whilst the bones of domestic cats (Felis catus ) are recovered from archaeological sites in Iberia routinely, they are rarely subjected to detailed analysis. Consequently, there is limited understanding of the nature of cat–human relations, especially in contrast to northern European regions. In this paper, we present a unique assemblage of 899 cat bones recovered from the medieval site of El Bordellet (Vilafranca del Penedès, Spain) and dated between the end of the 10th century ad and the beginning of the 11th century ad . Zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis provides the first clear evidence of skinning related to cat fur exploitation in Christian medieval Iberia. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Re-analysis of faunal assemblages from the Haua Fteah and other late quaternary archaeological sites in Cyrenaican Libya

In preliminary reports based on approximately 5000 identified bones from the Haua Fteah, Cyrenaica, E. S. Higgs concluded that changes in the abundance of bovines versus Barbary sheep reflected climatic change from drier (=last interglaciation) to wetter (=last glaciation) and back to drier (=present interglaciation). Higgs also reported the earliest occurrence of domestic caprines in Africa, in Haua Fteah “Neolithic” layers dated to about 6800 bp. A new analysis, based on roughly 9000 identified specimens, supports the broad pattern of faunal change that Higgs found, but suggests that it reflects wetter when Higgs proposed drier and vice versa. The new analysis failed to confirm the early date for domestic caprines, mainly because of uncertainty concerning the stratigraphic provenience of key specimens. Finally, the new analysis produced some additions to the species list (most notably eland) and provided previously unavailable information on skeletal part representation and on the ages of animals at time of death. With respect to skeletal parts, smaller ungulates tend to be represented by a wider variety than larger ones, a contrast that is almost universal in Stone Age sites. With regard to age profiles, the largest and most reliable one (for Barbary sheep from the “Neolithic” layers) implies the animals were captured by driving over cliffs or into other traps. Restudy of small additional samples from the Cyrenaican sites of Hagfet et Tera, Hagfet ed Dabba, and Sidi el Hajj Creiem fully supports taxonomic and paleoenvironmental conclusions drawn earlier by Higgs and Bate.     

Charcoal scarcity in Epigravettian settlements with mammoth bone dwellings: the taphonomic evidence from Mezhyrich (Ukraine)

Fuel management during the Paleolithic periods is an important issue to understand past human subsistence. Numerous Palaeolithic sites relate an abundance of burnt bones in hearths and an absence or scarcity of wood charcoals, which leads studies to focus on burnt bone remains and the use of bones in hearths. Few works take into account the micro-residues of wood charcoals which can still be present in hearth areas and excavated sediments. We studied the Epigravettian site with mammoth bone dwellings of Mezhyrich (Ukraine) previously characterized by its high content of burnt bones and an “absence” of wood charcoal during the so-called mammoth steppe. The presence or absence and proportions of both wood charcoals and burnt bones were quantified in macro-, meso- and microscale sediment size fractions by an image analysis method. Our results show that excavations during field-works at Mezhyrich give only a partial image of the original anthracological record and that most charcoal materials are lost with standard archaeological and anthracological approaches. The scarcity of charcoals in this site was possibly due to an important mass reduction accentuated by the addition of bones in hearths. By applying our protocol we recovered a significant amount of wood charcoals which provides the first ¹⁴C dates from charcoals at Mezhyrich. Numerous charcoals are identified contributing subsequent information about vegetation, environment and burning practices. They indicate, by comparison with pollen data already collected, the presence of forest patches in a mammoth steppe landscape, which might have influenced the collecting behavior of Epigravettian populations.