Birds as a key line of evidence for human vulnerability and resilience to environmental shifts

The project investigates past bird migration as evidence for localised palaeoenvironmental shifts. Identification of archaeological remains of birds is problematic and we will develop and apply new scientific tools for the identification of Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene remains from the semi-arid region of eastern Jordan.

During the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene of southwest Asia our species shifted from hunting and gathering to farming. Environmental conditions may have had a role in this fundamental change in human subsistence strategies but models of climatic fluctuations experienced during this period overlook the importance of shorter-term shifts and localised patterns as they are extremely difficult to detect in the archaeological record. The project will use new scientific tools (geometric morphometrics and palaeoproteomics) to improve identification of bird remains and identify past patterns of bird migration. Birds are highly responsive to environmental fluctuations and therefore are effective tools to model past environments and examine human adaptive responses.