Bird remains from Vilnius Lower Castle, Lithuania (13th–19th centuries) reveal changes in social status and unusual bird pathologies

Abstract

This paper focuses on the 1,224 bird remains found during the excavations of 1990–2015 in the Vilnius Lower Castle, Lithuania. The faunal material originates from a wide time span of the 13th to the 19th centuries. To explore the bird consumption in different periods of occupation of the castle and between different social strata, we analyzed the bird specimens by morphological characteristics. The study included taxonomical identification, recording the taphonomic features and pathologies, and assessing age and sex. As expected, the majority of the bones belong to the domestic chicken, but it is mostly the presence of wild taxa such as hawk, swan, and wild galliforms that demonstrates the various roles the birds played in peoples' everyday lives. Additionally, a few pathologies like avian osteopetrosis were identified that are unique to the eastern Baltic region.

Zooarchaeological evidence for the exploitation of birds in medieval and early modern Estonia (ca 1200–1800)

“…Feathers of the western capercaillie were probably used, as cut marks are present on the carpometacarpi from the suburban area of early modern Tallinn and Vastseliina Castle. Similarly, western capercaillie wing bones with cut marks have been found at Vilnius Lower Castle, Lithuania (Ehrlich et al 2023). Among other wild galliforms, the grey partridge (Perdix perdix) was present at the Vastseliina, Põltsamaa and Viljandi castles (Ehrlich et al 2022b).…”

“…Even though turkeys were often kept as pets in Europe during the Early Modern Period, two coracoids discussed in this paper had cut marks (one from Tallinn and one from Haapsalu Castle), indicating that they were also eaten. Turkey bones with cut marks are also present at Vilnius Lower Castle in Lithuania from the 16th century onwards (Ehrlich et al 2023).…”

A Special Relationship—Aspects of Human–Animal Interaction in Birds of Prey, Brown Bears, Beavers, and Elk in Prehistoric Europe

“…Finally, it bears mentioning that during medieval times, large birds of prey, mostly white-tailed eagles, were sometimes found in large quantities, e.g., in Hedeby (9th to 11th century CE [50]) or Klaip ėda (13th to 14th century CE [51,104]). In both cases, these birds were probably killed in order to use their feathers, whereas a meaning of the birds in spiritual life or as status symbol cannot be established (cf.…”

Songs of the past ‐ papers of the 10th ICAZ Bird Working Group Meeting

“…However, Gál (2023) points out in her overview of avian assemblages from ecclesiastical sites in Hungary, which show a rather large variety in species, that differences in recovery methods and analysis play an important role in the abundance and diversity of species recovered from a site. The relative diversity and abundance of birds can also be interpreted as indicative of social status, as demonstrated by the presence of hawks and falcons for hunting, an activity for the elite, in Vilnius Lower Castle, Lithuania (Ehrlich et al, 2023), and within the Volga River Basin (Shaymuratova et al, 2023), and the presence of an exotic peacock, likely an ornamental species, in the medieval site of Carrer de Sotstinent Navarro in Barcelona, Spain (Fernández et al, 2023). In terms of ritualistic uses of birds, Corbino and Demarchi (2023) describe a bird bone assemblage from the temple of Isis in Pompeii and interpret the presence of immature chicken remains, an abundance of meaty body parts and chicken eggshell identified through ancient protein analysis, as indicative of a ritualistic offer.…”