Yeomans, Lisa;
Mazzucato, Camilla;
(2024)
Human-bird interactions in the Levant during the Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene: Multi-scalar analysis of avifaunal remains.
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
, 16
(11)
, Article 185. 10.1007/s12520-024-02090-6.
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Abstract
This paper describes analyses of avifauna from Levantine Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene sites at contrasting scales. We present avian osteological data at Shubayqa, in northeast Jordan, illustrating human-bird-environment interactions over 4000 years offering interpretation of environmental change on avifaunal communities and reorientation in the nature of multi-species relationships at a wetland environment. Comparisons to published avifaunal assemblages investigates bird-human relationships across a broader temporal and geographical span. During the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene, some of our species gradually transitioned to agriculture. People hunted birds for subsistence but extensive evidence for the symbolic importance of birds suggests complex relationships between species. Avifaunal evidence, therefore, presents insights into two commonly suggested primary causes for the shift from hunter-foragers to agriculturalists – resource pressure and symbolic expression. In this paper, we investigate and try to clarify the relationship between humans and birds at this transitional period in human history, furthering discussions of the shift towards agriculture. We argue humans gradually modified the landscape but this was not a reactionary response to resource stress. Nevertheless, this resulted in the productivity of the landscape increasing and allowed further intensification. Feathers and talons of birds were used for millennia preceding the shift to agriculture and the increase in bird hunting towards the end of the Pleistocene cannot be explained by the increased role of birds in the symbolic realm. The evidence from the avifauna adds weight to the idea of ecological niche construction activities, as people invested in specific locations, increasing productivity of habitats, thus encouraging further investment within some environments.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Human-bird interactions in the Levant during the Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene: Multi-scalar analysis of avifaunal remains |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s12520-024-02090-6 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-024-02090-6 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
| Keywords: | Avifauna, Symbolism, Subsistence, Quantifcation, Late Pleistocene, Early Holocene, Niche construction |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Institute of Archaeology UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Institute of Archaeology > Institute of Archaeology Gordon Square |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10200156 |
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