Isotopic systematics point to wild origin of mummified birds in Ancient Egypt

Abstract

Millions of mummified birds serving for religious purpose have been discovered from archeological sites along the Nile Valley of Egypt, in majority ibises. Whether these birds were industrially raised or massively hunted is a matter of heavy debate as it would have a significant impact on the economy related to their supply and cult, and if hunted it would have represented an ecological burden on the birds populations. Here we have measured and analysed the stable oxygen, carbon and radiogenic strontium isotope compositions as well as calcium and barium content of bones along with the stable carbon, nitrogen and sulfur isotope composition of feathers from 20 mummified ibises and birds of prey recovered from various archeological sites of Ancient Egypt. If these migratory birds were locally bred, their stable oxygen, radiogenic strontium and stable sulfur isotopic compositions would be similar to that of coexisting Egyptians, and their stable carbon, nitrogen and oxygen isotope variance would be close, or lower than that of Egyptians. On one hand, isotopic values show that ibises ingested food from the Nile valley but with a higher isotopic scattering than observed for the diet of ancient Egyptians. On the other hand, birds of prey have exotic isotopic values compatible with their migratory behaviour. We therefore propose that most mummified ibises and all the birds of prey analysed here were wild animals hunted for religious practice.

The Use of Intrinsic Markers for Studying the Migratory Movements of Bats

“…Stable sulfur isotopes are less common than other intrinsic markers in studies of migration because the variation of δ 34 S across the terrestrial landscape is still largely undescribed, but see [ 101 ], and the analytical methodology is not standardized ( Appendix B , Table A2 ), see [ 57 ]. Stable sulfur isotopes are most commonly used in combination with 87 Sr/ 86 Sr in archaeological studies, e.g., [ 102 , 103 , 104 ] and δ 2 H, δ 15 N, and δ 13 C in studies of modern migratory vertebrates, e.g., [ 78 , 105 , 106 , 107 ]. We know of only two studies that have incorporated δ 34 S into studies of bat movement ecology and neither specifically used δ 34 S to investigate migration.…”

Will ‘o the Wisps: non-traditional data to inform modern science

“…To validate this approach, we also analyze one in-depth case study on greenhouse gas emissions in premodern times. The compiled records and reviews span ne art (20,(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30), shipping manifests (7,(31)(32)(33)(34), oral and written compendia, species movement records (2,(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40), and trade (41)(42)(43). We highlight these records as an example of how non-traditional data can be integrated into modern science.…”

Multiple lines of evidence of early goose domestication in a 7,000-y-old rice cultivation village in the lower Yangtze River, China

“…These values trace the migrant bird’s place of origin, which may be different from the area in which the individual was captured. A few ecological studies on modern birds have used feathers for measurement ( 33 , 34 ), whereas archeological studies typically use bone or teeth samples to analyze carbonates ( 35 ) and phosphates ( 36 ).…”