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Fowling in Prehistoric Europe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Grahame Clark
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Extract

Fowling has seldom played a part in the food-quest at all comparable with that of hunting or fishing : the situation of St. Kilda, where during the 17th century the 180 inhabitants are held by Martin (1) to have consumed annually some 22,600 Solan Geese (Gannets) and of which the Rev. Macaulay exclaimed in 1758 ‘. . . deprive us of the Fulmar, and St. Kilda is no more (2)’, is an exception which only proves the general rule. Yet, we know that birds helped to vary the diet of most of the communities of prehistoric Europe and that catching them was an activity of economic importance, especially at certain seasons of the year. The only scientific way of estimating the part played by fowling in the economy of any prehistoric group is through an accurate knowledge of the total fauna represented in the food debris, with special regard to the relative proportions of the different species. While this is too seldom available, there is in the aggregate sufficient data to show how far prehistoric man depended on fowling to supply himself with food. As to the methods used, direct evidence of this is all the harder to come by, since these were mainly of a kind to leave little or no tangible trace behind them. Throughout prehistoric times fowling remained at a primitive stage of development, but fortunately the methods used still survived in Europe down to modern times and most are still practised to-day, whether among peasant peoples in the remoter parts of the continent or among poachers nearer home.

Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 22 , Issue 87 , September 1948 , pp. 116 - 130
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 1948

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References

1 M. Martin, A Late Voyage to St. Kilda, p. 457 (Orig. publ. 1698). Stirling, 1934.

2 Quoted from James Ritchie, The influence of man on animal life in Scotland, p. 147. Cambridge 1920. Fowling has also been developed to an exceptional degree in the Faroes. For an excellent description, see Kenneth Williamson’s The Atlantic Islands (London, chap. 6) which appeared while this article was in press.

3 A. Rust, Das altsteinzeitliche Rentierjägerlager Meiendorf, s. 108, taf. 53. Neumunster, 1937.

4 C. J. Becker, ‘En 8000-aarig stenalderboplads i Holmegaards Mose’, Fra Nationalmuseets Arbejdsmark, 1945, pp. 66-7.

5 G. Klemm reckoned that some 1,200,000 field-fares were taken in this way every year in E. Prussia alone. Allgemeine Culturwissenschaft. Die materiellen Grundlagen menschlicher Cultur, s. 117. Leipzig, 1855.

6 J. G. Wilkinson, Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, vol. III, p. 38. London, 1837.

7 L. Franz, ‘Alteuropäische Wurfhölzer’, P. W. Schmidt Festschrift (edt. W. Koppers), s. 800-8. Vienna, 1928.

8 K. Lindner, Die Jagd im frühen Mittelalter, s. 339-40, 409. Berlin, 1940.

9 According to Lindner, this consisted of mistletoe berries, dried, pounded, soaked in water for twelve days and again pulverized.

10 H. Shetelig and H. Falk, Scandinavian Archaeology, p. 306. Oxford, 1937 ; Encyclopaedia Britannica, nth edtn., vol. x, p. 141.

11 For a general account, see Symington Grieve, The Great Auk, or Garefowl. Its history, archaeology and remains. London, 1885. A more comprehensive account is given by W. Blasius in Naumann’s Naturgeschichte der Vögel Mitteleuropas, bd. XII, 169-208. Many of the finds of Great Auk remains from archaeological sites have been made since and a complete list is given in the Appendix of the present paper. For the Broch of Ayre reference and for information about the bones from Elsay, I am indebted to Miss D. M. A. Bate.

12 H. Breuil et al., Les Cavernes de la région Cantabriques, pp. 38-9. Monaco, 1911.

13 The last pair were killed in June, 1844 , on the islet of Eldey, south-west of Iceland.

14 Franz Boas, ‘The Central Eskimo’, 6th Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, pp. 401-669. Washington, 1888. See p. 512.

15 H. A. Macpherson, A History of Fowling, p. 122. Edinburgh, 1897.

16 S. Krasheninnikov, History of Kamtschatka and the Kurilski Islands, with countries adjacent (J. Grieve’s transi.), pp. 158-9. Gloucester, 1764.

17 J. Murdoch, Ethnological Results of the Point Barrow Expedition, 1881-83, pp. 210-11. Washington, 1893 ; K. Birket-Smith, Ethnography of the Egesminde District, p. 352. Copenhagen, 1924.

18 An acte agenst Destruccyon of Wyldfowle. 25 Henry VIII, cap. 11. Quoted from H. C. Darby, The Draining of the Fens, p. 9. Cambridge, 1940.

19 N. Annandale, The Faroes and Iceland, p. 123. Oxford, 1905. See also Kenneth Williamson, op. cit.

20 W. Jochelson, History, Ethnology and Anthropology of the Aleut, pp. 53-4. Carnegie Inst. Pub. 432. Washington, 1933.

21 U. T. Sirelius, Die Volkskultur Finnlands, I. Jagd und Fischerei, s. 65-6. Berlin, 1934 ; J. Böe, Le Finnmarkien, p. 254. Oslo, 1936.

22 op. cit. p. 316.

23 C. von Linné, Õlandska och Gothländska Resa, p. 204. Stockholm, 1745.

24 U. T. Sirelius, op. cit. p. 66.

25 H. A. Macpherson, op. cit. pp. 223-3.

26 ibid., p. 231.

27 E. Granlund, Sver. Geolog. Unders. ser. Ca. Avhandl. och Uppsatser, no. 26, p. 143. I have to thank Dr Gosta Berg of Stockholm for this reference.

28 London, 1865-75. pp. 226-47.

29 R. R. Schmidt, Die diluviale Vorzeit Deutschlands, s. 169, 191, 207. Stuttgart, 1912.

30 E. Peters and V. Toepfer, ‘Der Abschluss der Grabungen am Petersfels bei Engen im badischen Hegau’, Prãhist. Zeit., xxin, s. 155-9.9. Berlin, 1932. s. 166.

31 E. Passemard, ‘La caverne d’Isturitz’, Rev. arch., xv, pp. 1-45. Paris, 1922. p. 40, fig. 38.

32 R. de St.-Périer,’Les migrations des tribus magdaléniennes des Pyrénées, Rev. anthrop., 1920, May-June. cf. Proc. Prehist. Soc. v (1939), p. 268.

33 A. Rust, op. cit. s. 55-7.

34 H. Winge, Aarböger, 1903, pp. 194-5; 1919, p.128-9; 1924, pp. 28-9; and M. Degerböl in T. Mathiassen et al., Stenalderbopladsen i Aamosen, pp. 190-1. Copenhagen, 1943.

35 H. Winge, ‘Om jordfundne Fugle fra Danmark’, Vidensk. Medd.fra den naturhist. For. i Kjöbenhavn, 1903, pp. 61-109.

36 J. G. D. Clark, The Mesolithic Settlement of Northern Europe, p. 90. Cambridge, 1936.

37 Affaldsdynger, p. 195. Copenhagen, 1900 ; V. Nordmann, Menneskets Indvandring til Norden, p. 128. Copenhagen, 1936 ; J. G. D. Clark, op. cit. p. 51.

38 A. W. Brögger, Vistefundet. En aeldre stenalders kjokkenmodding fra Jaederen, pp. 9-11. Stavanger, 1908.

39 Leiknes : G. Gjessing, Arktiske Helleristninger i Nord-Norge, pl. IX. Oslo, 1932 ; G. Hallström, Monumental Art of Northern Europe from the Stone Age, p. 107. Stockholm, 1938. Bardal : G. Gjessing, Nordenfjelske Ristringer og Malinger av den arktiske gruppe, pp. 47-50, pl. LVII. Oslo, 1936 ; G. Hallström, op. cit., pp. 300-2, pl. XXIV. Hammer : G. Gjessing, 1936, op. cit. pp. 25-9, pl. LIV.

40 Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot., XLVIII, p. 105.

41 M. and S.-J. Péquart, Téviec. Station-nécropole mésolithique du Morbihan, pp. 101-2. Paris, 1937.

42 L. Rütimeyer, Die Fauna der Pfahlbauten der Schweiz, s. 113-5. Zürich, 1862; H. Reinerth, Die Jüngere Steinzeit der Schweiz, table in App. 11. Augsburg, 1926 ; also, Das Federseemoor, s. 70. Leipzig, 1936.

43 F. Keller, The Lake Dwellings of Switzerland and other parts of Europe, pl. XIV, 23, 24. London, 1866.

44 E. Krause, ‘Vorgeschichtliche Fischereigerate und neuere Vergleichsstucke’, Z f .Fischerei, bd. XI, s. 133-300. Berlin, 1904, s. 228-9.

45 F. Keller, op. cit. p. 67.

46 H. A. Macpherson, op. cit. p. 213.

47 A. Bulleid and H. St. G. Gray, The Glastonbury Lake Village, pp. 631-7. Glastonbury, 1911.

48 One of the best studied, collections of bird remains from a Scottish archaeological site is that from Jarlshof, Shetland, dealt with by Miss M. Platt, and ranging in age from Late Bronze Age to Norse (Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot, LXVII, p. 135 ; LXVIII, p. 318). For sea birds from a Neolithic deposit in a chambered cairn nr. Midhowe, Rousay, Orkney, see Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot, LXVIII, p 349. It is interesting to note that the Iron Age level in a chamber of a stalled cairn on Eday, Orkney yielded remains of at least 28 Cormorants, as well as lesser numbers of Herring and Greater Black-headed Gulls, Shag, White-tailed Eagle and Merlin (Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot, LXXI, pp. 152-3).

48a For a description of the uses to which bird-products were put in the Faroes, see Kenneth Williamson’s ‘The Economic Importance of Sea-Fowl in the Faeroe Islands’, Ibis, 87, pp. 249-69, 1945.

49 e.g. by the Aleuts. W. Jochelson, op. cit. p. 53.

50 Handbuch der Germanischen alterthumskund, s. 135. Dresden, 1836.

51 W. H. Riddell, ‘The Domestic Goose’, ANTIQUITY, 1943, p. 150.

52 op. cit. p. 222.

53 Miss D. M. Liddell, ‘New Light on an Old Problem’, ANTIQUITY, 1929, pp. 283-91.

54 Archaeologia, LXII, p. 335.

55 J. Ritchie, op. cit. p. 147.

56 N. Annandale, op. cit. p. 115.

57 ibid.

58 S. Grieve, op. cit. p. 119-20.

59 G. W. Steller, Beschreibung von dem Lande Kamtschatka, s. 194. Frankfurt, 1774.

60 e.g. J. Ritchie, op. cit. p. 130.

61 L. Rütimeyer, op. cit.

62 A. Bulleid and H. St. G. Gray, op. cit.

63 e.g. Jarlshof (Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot, LXVIH, p. 318) ; chambered cairn near Midhowe, Rousay (ibid, p. 349) ; Iron Age level, stalled cairn, Calf of Eday {Proc. Soc. Ant. Scot, LXXI, pp. 152-3).

64 M. Degerböl in Mathiassen et al., op. cit. p. 191. The Ogaarde Maglemosian site yielded 13 humeri, as well as other bones, of the White-tailed Eagle.

65 E. Dahr had previously drawn attention to the large number of bones of the same species from the seal-hunting station at Siretorp, Scania, in A. Bagge and K. Kjellmark, Stenâlders-boplatserna vid Siretorp i Blekinge, pp. 242-5. Stockholm, 1939.

66 C. J. Becker, op. cit. figs. 3, 4.

67 Howard Carter, The Tomb of Tut-ankh-amen, vol. III, p. 139 and pl. XLVI. London, 1933.

68 C. Englehardt, Vimose Fundet, p. 23 and pl. 14, no. 23. Copenhagen, 1929.

69 C. Englehardt, Denmark in the Early Iron Age, p. 58, pl. 12, no. 11. London, 1866.

70 L. Mayet and J. Pissot, Abri-sous-roche préhistorique de la Colombière, figs. 47, 56 and pl. xxi, no. I and XXII, no. 1. Lyon, 1915. I am indebted to Professor Dorothy Garrod for help on this point.

71 op. cit. p. 181.

72 In the Uttermost East, pp. 176, 231. London, 1903.

73 G. W. Steller, op. cit. s. 194.

74 J. R. Anthrop. I, IV, p. 29. London, 1875.

75 B. Adler, Der Nordasiatische Pfeil, s. 13. Suppl. Bd. xiv, Inst. Arch. f. Ethnog. Leiden, 1901.

76 ibid.

77 Dr Itkonen kindly showed me arrows fletched with eagle feathers in his department of the National Museum at Helsingfors. He informs us that eagle feathers were preferred up till the end of the 18th century in Finland, cf. U. T. Sirelius, op. cit. s. 33.

78 Olaus Magnus, Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus, bk. 19, cap 6. Rome, 1555.

79 ibid, bk. 19, cap. 7.

80 W.H. Riddell, op. cit.

81 The Shield of Hercules, V, 135. Quoted from Bohn edtn. 1856, p. 57.

82 W. Jochelson, op. cit. p. 77.

83 S. Krasheninnikov, op. cit. p. 153.

84 G. Landt, A Description of the Feroe Islands. London, 1810, p. 219.

85 Information from Dr Itkonen.

86 J. R. Mortimer, Forty Years’ Researches, pp. 274-5 and fig. 740; also Grahame Clark, Prehistoric England, p. 99.

87 T. Bateman, Vestiges, p. 97.

88 Ten Years’ Diggings, p. 80. The Director of the City Museum, Sheffield, Mr J. W. Baggaley, kindly informs me that this is still preserved in the Bateman Collection (J .93.549) and that it agrees in size with the mandible of a Peregrine Falcon. In the Appendix to his Ten Years’ Diggings (p. 299), Bateman refers to two species of Falconidae from his excavations ‘unrecognizable from the remains, but one rather large’.

89 Archaeologia, XLIII, p. 541.

90 I have to thank Mrs M. E. Cunnington for kindly verifying this.

91 J.-E. Forssander, ‘Från hällkisttid och äldre bronsålder i Skåne’, Medd. Lunds univ. hist. mus., 1931-2, p. 8-24. See p. 15 and fig. 3, no. 5.

92 M. Degerböl in Mathiassen et al., op. cit. p. 200. A claw joint of a White-tailed Eagle, artificially perforated, was found in an Iron Age urn in a barrow at Holme, south of Aarhus (H. Winge, 1903, op. cit. p. 101).