Archaeo-Ornithology: Towards an Archaeology of Human-Bird Interfaces

Abstract

This editorial introduces Archaeo-Ornithology as a distinct field of inquiry and discusses its multidisciplinary background and potential contribution to a more nuanced characterisation of changing human-animal interfaces through time and space. We propose a new conceptual modelgrounded in the analysis of 'triangles of interaction'to elucidate the interactional dynamics which underpin varying human-animal relationships. The utility of this approach is demonstrated by exploring the example of anthropogenic space as a key context of human-bird figurations. Each contributing paper of the special issue, which will be introduced in more detail below, foregrounds different aspects and emphasises varying dimensions of the triangle, thus contributing in different ways to archaeo-ornithological research. As highlighted throughout the introduction, however, archaeo-ornithological approaches are not only capable of shedding new light on old questions about the past, they also have the potential of addressing some pressing contemporary quandaries, including continuing debates on the Anthropocene.

Chasing the Halcyon Light – Human-Kingfisher Relations in Eastern Han-Dynasty China (CE 25–220) and Their Material, Sociocultural and Ecological Articulations

“…Humans are not the only agents actively shaping the sociocultural worlds they inhabit (Steward 2009;Hill 2011;Poole 2015;Kost and Hussain 2019); especially the animated part of their natural environmentswith animals perhaps being the pinnacle of animacy exerts agencies of various kinds which, despite of their differences to human action, have shaped the human story ever since (e.g. Albarella and Trentacoste they actively configure human lifeworlds, thereby influencing the course of human culture (Willerslev 2007;McNiven 2010;Conneller 2011;Russell 2012;Overton and Hamilakis 2013;Hussain and Floss 2015).…”

“…In this article, I propose that the particular spatiotemporal pattern delineated by the kingfisher figurines is the result of at least four interrelated factors: (i) the particular environmental background of human-kingfisher interactions; (ii) the specificity of kingfisher behaviours; (iii) the distinct sociocultural practices of the involved human groups including the ecological consequences of these practices; and (iv) the broader cosmological and socio-political context in which humankingfisher relations had to be negotiated (cf. Kost and Hussain 2019 for a detailed presentation of the adopted methodology). My basic argument is that the spatiotemporal pattern of kingfisher depictions reproduces some of the overriding dynamics in play between the core areas of the Eastern Han, where population densities were high and landscape modifications turned out to be consequential, and the southwestern peripheries, where environments appeared to be 'untamed' and the influence of local habits and customs were notable; fostered by the specific historical developments in Eastern Han-dynasty China, these dynamics, in turn, resulted in a markedly different type of exposure and logic of interaction between humans and kingfishers when the northern and southern areas of the empire are compared.…”

“…The structure of this study is a consequence of the adopted approach (Kost and Hussain 2019) and my contextual examination of Eastern Han kingfisher figurines can thus be broken down into five parts. I begin with a general overview of the special status of the kingfisher in Chinese history before introducing the relevant figurines and their archaeological context in some detail.…”

“…The here adopted approach locates the two primary agentshumans and kingfisherswithin the coordinates defined by the tripolar configuration of factors that have presumably shaped the interrelationships between the two (cf. Kost and Hussain 2019). The underlying rationale, already outlined in the introduction, is that these interactions will depend on the behaviours of both agents and how these may have affected each other, especially in terms of the spatial/geographic dynamics of encounter, visibility and ecological compatibility.…”

Birds of Summer Solstice: World-Renewal Rituality on the Northern Gulf Coast of Florida

“…Birds have long had relationships with humans that go beyond their nutritional value (Kost & Hussain 2019; Overton & Hamilakis 2013). Certainly many species of wild birds were collected for food worldwide, for millennia (e.g.…”