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

Abstract

This article takes a fresh look at human-kingfisher relations in Eastern Han-dynasty China (CE 25-220). It argues that the confined appearance of kingfisher figurines in graves excavated in the southwest of the modern-day People's Republic of China reflects the structural differences in human-kingfisher interactions between the centre(s) of the Han empire and its peripheries. By re-visiting the archaeology of the figurines and placing them into the wider cultural and ecological context, it is shown that distinct sociocultural transformations such as urbanisation processes and infrastructural projects profoundly changed the exposure and interactional dynamics between humans and kingfishers in the northern parts of the realm. This situation contrasted sharply with human-kingfisher interfaces in the southwest, where relatively 'untamed' environments harbouring a great number and diversity of kingfishers provided more favourable conditions for encountering them. I propose that this framework, in turn, fostered conceptualizations of kingfishers in which the birds came to encapsulate an experience fundamentally opposed to the type of human preponderance showcased in the core areas. By discussing a set of local practices and beliefs that might have further promoted this view, I suggest that they served as catalysts for the emergence of the kingfisher figurines at a particular time in a specific place. In this wider context, the article finally considers whether the southward expansion of the Eastern Han, with which the appearance of the figurines coincides, contributed to a re-configuration of north-south dynamics, shaping the general logic of human-kingfisher relations at the time.

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

“…8 All of this suggests that human-bird relations must be studied in their dynamic co-adjustment, and that it is typically the intersection between human behaviour and bird presence that emerges as the key locus of meaning-making. Kost (2019) presents an integrated re-interpretation of an exceptional assemblage of kingfisher figurines from Eastern Han-dynasty China. Her point of departure is the observation that this notable set of bronze objects exhibits a spatiotemporally confined distribution, occurring only in the southwestern corner of what is today the People's Republic of China (PRC) and spanning a period from the late Western Han to late Eastern Han (ca.…”

Perspectives on the Structure and Function of the Avian Respiratory System: Functional Efficiency Built on Structural Complexity

“…Birds are a highly conspicuous and profoundly fascinating animal taxon (Gould and Gould, 2007;Robbins, 2017;BirdLife nternational, 2018). Important as a source of food (Rude, 2016), they have had a close historical association with human beings (Hill, 2019;Kost, 2019;Kost and Hussain, 2019) and have greatly socio-culturally influenced past civilizations from as far back as ∼3 million years ago (Spottiswoode et al, 2016). Bird watching (ornithology) is an "old" human pursuit that continues to gain popularity in the modern times (Cordell et al, 1999;Cordell and Herbert, 2002).…”