Journal
JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE
Volume 36, Issue 12, Pages 2655-2665Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2009.08.002
Keywords
Bird remains; Gravettian; Upper Palaeolithic; Hunting; Broad spectrum revolution; Corvus corax; Lagopus lagopus; Lagopus muta; Tetrao tetrix
Funding
- Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education [2 P04C 08130, 0903/P01/2006/31]
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This is the first article that describes in detail the bird remains from the Gravettian mega-site Pavlov I in the Czech Republic. More than 1000 bird bones represent at least 19 taxa, of which the most numerous are tetraonids including black grouse (Tetrao tetrix), willow grouse (Lagopus lagopus) and ptarmigan (Lagopus muta), and ravens (Corvus corax). The archaeological and biological contexts indicate that most birds were hunted by people in the vicinity of the site, possibly with the help of knotted nets made from plant fibres. We suggest that ravens were killed while feeding on carcasses and/or food remains that may have been disposed of intentionally, and feathers may have been used for arrow fletching. Human-modified bones indicate that birds were used not only for food but also as raw material for tools and decoration. Although mammals were certainly more important in the subsistence of the Gravettian people, it is clear that birds played a role in their culture. The location of Pavlov I enlarges the explanatory scope of the Broad Spectrum Revolution hypothesis to include higher latitudes north of the Mediterranean. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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