Birds

Birds is the first book to examine bird remains in archaeology and anthropology.

Dale Serjeantson (Author)

9780521866170, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 18 May 2009

514 pages, 171 b/w illus. 1 map 61 tables
26.1 x 18.2 x 2.7 cm, 1.06 kg

"Overall, Birds is an excellent book and it could easily serve as a key reference source for looking into the various roles and remains of birds in the archaeological past." -Robert J. Stark, Canadian Journal of Archaeology

Birds is the first book to examine bird remains in archaeology and anthropology. Providing a thorough review of the literature on this topic, it also serves as a guide to the methods of study of bird remains from the past and covers a wide range of topics, including anatomy and osteology, taphonomy, eggs, feathers, and bone tools. It examines the myriad ways in which people have interacted with birds in the past. The volume also includes discussion on the consumption of wild birds, the domestication of birds, cockfighting and falconry, birds in ritual and religion, and the role of birds in ecological reconstruction, providing an up-to-date survey of current knowledge on these topics. Birds will be an invaluable resource for undergraduate and graduate students interested in zooarchaeology and human-animal relations, as well as professional zooarchaeologists, archaeologists, and anthropologists interested in birds and people of the past.

1. Introduction
2. Biology, behaviour and anatomy
3. Ageing, sexing and pathology with Tony Waldron
4. Identification, recording and quantification
5. Taphonomy: natural changes and recovery
6. Taphonomy: human modifications and element survival
7. Eggs and eggshell
8. Feathers, skins and other products
9. Tools and ornaments
10. Wild birds as food
11. The domestic chicken
12. Other domestic birds
13. Sport and pleasure
14. Birds in symbol and ritual
15. Birds in the environment
16. Conclusions and outstanding questions.

Subject Areas: Zoology: Vertebrates [PSVW], Environmental archaeology [HDP], Archaeology [HD]