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Books about bird related archaeology

The books are listed by publication date with the most recent at the top.

 

Aquellas Aves de Pompeya: Un Paseo Ornitológico en el Año 79 d.C.

Birding in Ancient Pompeii: Anno Domini 79

Editor: Karin Faber

Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando

2016

Bilingual: Spanish / English

"A comparative study of the birds depicted on Pompeian wall paintings and the actual ones, photographed in their natural habitats. The research is introduced by both a description of the Roman 'domus' and the mythological, nourishing and festive roles played by birds in Ancient Rome. With many illustrations and close-ups of 50 selected birds."

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Between Heaven and Earth: Birds in Ancient Egypt

Editor: Rozenn Bailleul-LeSuer

Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago

2012

"Issued in conjunction with an exhibit at the Oriental Institute Museum at the University of Chicago, this is the first comprehensive study of birds in ancient Egyptian society, economy, art, and religion. Essays address the role of birds in the religious landscape, their use in hieroglyphic and Coptic scripts, birds as protective symbols, as decorative motifs, and as food. A group of essays on "Egyptian Birds and Modern Science" presents the newest forensic research on bird mummies. Other articles address bird behavior as shown in Egyptian art and the present state of avifauna in the Nile Valley."

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Birds in Archaeology: Proceedings of the 6th Meeting of the Icaz Bird Working Group in Groningen (23.8 - 27.8.2008)

Editor: DC Brinkhuizen, W. Prummel, Jt Zeiler

Barkhuis

2010

"This volume comprises the papers presented at the 6th Meeting of the ICAZ Bird Working Group, held in August 2008 in Groningen, the Netherlands. The subjects of the contributions range from New Zealand, South America and the Near East to Europe and vary in time from the Pleistocene up to the late 19th century. Themes discussed are the palaeozoogeography of birds, the role of birds in subsistence, ritual and symbolism, bird hunting techniques and histological studies of bird bones. The geographical, temporal and thematic variation underlines the importance of ornito-archaeozoology for all aspects of archaeology."

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Birds

Dale Serjeantson

Cambridge University Press

2009

"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."

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The History of British Birds

Derek Yalden and Umberto Albarella

Oxford University Press

2009

"The History of British Birds reviews our knowledge of avifaunal history over the last 15,000 years, setting it in its wider historical and European context. The authors, one an ornithologist the other an archaeologist, integrate a wealth of archaeological data to illuminate and enliven the story, indicating the extent to which climatic, agricultural, and social changes have affected the avifauna. They discuss its present balance, as well as predicting possible future changes."

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Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Birds

David W. Steadman

University of Chicago Press

2006

"Reconstructing the avian world in the same way archeologists re-create ancient human societies, David W. Steadman - a leading authority on tropical Pacific avian paleontology - has spent the past two decades in the field, digging through layers of soil in search of the bones that serve as clues to the ancient past of island bird communities. His years of indefatigable research and analysis are the foundation for "Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Birds," a monumental study of the landbirds of tropical Pacific islands - especially those from Fiji eastward to Easter Island - and an intricate history of the patterns and processes of island biology over time. Using information gleaned from prehistoric specimens, Steadman reconstructs the birdlife of tropical Pacific islands as it existed before the arrival of humans and in so doing corrects the assumption that small, remote islands were unable to support rich assemblages of plants and animals. Easter Island, for example, though devoid of wildlife today, was the world's richest seabird habitat before Polynesians arrived more than a millennium ago. Grounded in geology, paleontology, and archaeology, but biological at its core, "Extinction and Biogeography of Tropical Pacific Birds" is an exceptional work of unparalleled scholarship that will stimulate creative discussions of terrestrial life on oceanic islands for years to come."

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Osteology for the Archaeologist

Stanley J. Olsen

Harvard University Press

Papers of the Peabody Museum Volume 56, No. 3 to 5

Numbers 3: American Mastadon and the Woolly Mammoth

Numbers 4: North American Birds: Skulls and Mandibles

Numbers 5: North American Birds: Postcranial Skeletons

2004

"This comparative analysis aids the fieldworker in identifying fossil proboscidean bones from early man sites. It also describes the skulls, mandibles, and posteranial skeletons of forty families of birds frequently found in archaeological excavations in the United States."

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Prehistoric Human Impacts on California Birds: Evidence from the Emeryville Shellmound Avifauna

Jack M. Broughton

Ornithological Monographs 56

American Ornithologists' Union

2004

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The Future from the Past: Archaeozoology in Wildlife Conservation and Heritage Management

Editor: Roel C.G.M. Lauwerier, Ina Plug

University of Chicago Press

2003

"The applications of zooarchaeological research can go far beyond the realms of the lab or the site report. These 18 papers are all concerned with the contributions archaeozoologists make to specific problems encountered in the management and conservation of our natural and cultural heritage. The volume is divided into two parts: Part 1 looks at Zooarchaeology and Wildlife Conservation Issues. Contributors explore a range of subjects, including: how information on past environments can be used to explain the behaviour and distribution of species in the present; whether it is feasible to reintroduce game into areas where the species have become locally extinct; and how collecting and reporting procedures are related to the interpretation of zooarchaeological data. Part 2 covers Archaeozoology and Heritage Management. Contributors discuss the position of archaeozoologists in museums, universities, and private archaeological companies; the role of archaeozoologists in assessing and selecting sites for protection or excavation; and the problem of the deterioration of zooarchaeological material currently held in collections."

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Man and the Animal World: Studies in Archaeozoology, Archaeology, Anthropology and Palaeolinguistics

Editor: Sándor Bökönyi, Peter P. Anreiter

1998

"More than fifty contributors, colleagues, co-workers and former students offer a cross-section of current research into the history of the relationship between man and animal. This exciting research area is studied using a rich variety of methods within broad geographical, cultural and chronological contexts focusing on the cooperation of various fields related to Sandor Bokonyi's own subject: archaeozoology."

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Avian Osteology

B. Miles Gilbert, Larry D. Martin and Howard G. Savage

Missouri Archaeological Society

1996

"Following on from his study of Mammalian Osteology, B Miles Gilbert, with his colleagues, now turns his attention to the identification and analysis of avian bones recovered from sites in North America. In sections devoted to each diagnostic bone in turn, fine drawings allow comparison between species. A catalogue of the common names of birds ends the study."

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Archaeornithology: Birds and the Archaeological Record: Proceedings of the first meeting of the ICAZ Bird Working Group. Madrid. October 1992

Editor: Eufrasia Rosello and Arturo Morales Muniz

Associación Española de Arqueozoología

1993

The majority of papers in the work are in English.

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Last updated August 20173