Eating crow or a feather in one's cap: The avifauna from the Magdalenian sites of Gönnersdorf and Andernach-Martinsberg (Germany)

In view of the large numbers of horse hunted at both sites, the relatively small number of bird remains show that they did not play a major role as a food resource. Selection for wing elements of swan and goose suggests these large birds may have been primarily of interest in terms of their pinion feathers or wing bones. In contrast the skeletal representation of ptarmigan or willow grouse suggests that complete carcasses were brought to the site for processing/consumption. Our holistic approach combines zooarchaeological analysis with e.g. spatial patterning, allowing us to assign bird remains deriving from individual carcasses processing to specific locations within the site area, information of relevance for a synthetic interpretation of settlement organisation and site formation. A complete praemaxilla and dentary of a raven from a pit in Gönnersdorf K II were probably deposited originally as a complete head. Its location, together with the overall representation of raven bone, perhaps suggest non-utilitarian motives for the presence of entire feathered skins of ravens within Gönnersdorf dwelling structures.