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.
Dale Serjeantson is a Research Fellow in Archaeology in the School of Humanities, University of Southampton, UK. She is the co-author, with Alan Cohen, of Manual for the Identification of Bird Bones from Archaeological Sites and has contributed papers on birds and other zooarchaeological topics in journals and popular magazines. She is an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology and a member of the Institute of Field Archaeologists, the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, the Association for Environmental Archaeology, and L'homme et l'animal: Societie de recherche interdisciplinaire.
Reviews for Birds
...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. The Birdbooker Report
