Hens, Health and Husbandry: Integrated Approaches to Past Poultry-keeping in England

Abstract

This paper sheds new light on aspects of Roman and Anglo-Saxon chicken (Gallus gallus) husbandry and health through integrating analyses of chicken skeletal remains and eggshell from five archaeological sites in England (Fishbourne Roman Palace, Flixborough, Lyminge, Princesshay, and Uley). In addition to standardised archaeozoological study, over 10,400 chicken elements from these sites were subjected to palaeopathological and metrical analyses to clarify the relationship between husbandry methods and signs of disease and injury. Radiographic examination contributed to differential diagnosis of lesions and identification of medullary bone in complete appendicular elements. Eggshell examination was conducted on material from Flixborough using Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry and Scanning Electron Microscopy to identify species and developmental stage. Combined, these techniques demonstrate previouslyunknown patterns of egg production and consumption. By integrating these approaches, our results reveal previously unconsidered aspects of chicken husbandry and illuminate the broader value and social impact of past chicken-human relationships from the first millennium AD.

Paleoproteomics

“…Further characterization of eggshell proteomes using both MALDI-TOF and LC–MS/MS , have allowed the development of a large number of marker peptides that can reliably distinguish common bird taxa (most importantly chicken, duck and goose) using PMF. − PMF is a rapid and inexpensive method for identifying archaeological eggshell, but due to the complexity of the eggshell proteome and the limited number of characterized species, not all eggshell can be identified using this method. When MALDI-TOF analysis is unable to taxonomically identify the species, LC–MS/MS analysis can be conducted on those samples that have distinct MALDI-TOF spectra in order to facilitate identification. , Success will increase as more bird genomes are sequenced and deposited in genomic and proteomic databases …”

Earliest Utilization of Chicken in Upper California: The Zooarchaeology of Avian Remains from the San Diego Royal Presidio

“…For assessing relative age at death, we categorized long bones as either fused (mature) or unfused (immature; Supplemental Table 3). Additionally, the outer cortical bone of hatchlings and subadult fledglings retains a visibly porous outer texture (Fothergill et al 2017; Gál 2006; Serjeantson 2009:38–40; Thomas et al 2014). We categorized these specimens as immature also.…”

“…To assess size variation in the osteological measurements, we applied two statistical methods. In the first phase, we used the “log-ratio” method to pool measurements from different skeletal elements (Fothergill et al 2017; Haber and Dayan 2004; Payne and Bull 1988; Simpson et al 1960:356–358). With this method, the logarithm of the ratio between the size of a zooarchaeological and a standard (modern) specimen is calculated.…”

Human‐Aided Movement of Viral Disease and the Archaeology of Avian Osteopetrosis

“…These lesions and their aetiology continue to be discussed in major works on palaeopathology (Bartosiewicz & Gál, ; Thomas, ). In addition to Brothwell's article (Brothwell, ), avian osteopetrosis lesions have been identified in a wide range of European archaeozoological investigations over the last few decades (Allison, ; Baker, ; Fabiš, ; Fothergill & Best, In press; Gál, ; Gál & Kunst, ; Gordon, ; Lentacker et al, ; Luff & Brothwell, ; Morel, ; Peters, ; Prummel, ; van Wijngaarden‐Bakker & Krauwer, ; von den Driesch & Pöllath, ).…”