Not Just Food: the Snowy Owl in French magdalenian Sites

Several Magdalenian sites from southwestern France have yielded bones of the Snowy Owl (Nyctea scandiaca). Although the number of calories provided by this bird is small when compared with larger mammals, how the exploitation of this species fit into a broader hunting strategy is unclear. In additio...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Laroulandie, Véronique
Other Authors: De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux (UB)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Format: Conference Object
Language:English
Published: HAL CCSD 2004
Subjects:
Prehistory
Archaeozoology
bird bone
snowy owl
Préhistoire
archéozoology
os d'oiseau
Harfang
[SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory
Nyctea scandiaca
Online Access:https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00082738
Description
Summary:Several Magdalenian sites from southwestern France have yielded bones of the Snowy Owl (Nyctea scandiaca). Although the number of calories provided by this bird is small when compared with larger mammals, how the exploitation of this species fit into a broader hunting strategy is unclear. In addition, zooarchaeological studies show that this bird of prey was not used simply as a food item. Bones and probably feathers were used as raw material, demonstrating that the Snowy Owl contributed to multiple aspects of the Paleolithic economy.

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