The domestic fowl and other birds from the Roman site of Mons Claudianus, Egypt
✍ Scribed by Sheila Hamilton-Dyer
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1997
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 122 KB
- Volume
- 7
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1047-482X
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
At the Roman quarry settlement of Mons Claudianus in the Eastern Desert of Egypt extreme aridity has preserved large amounts of organic matter. Amongst the faunal remains were several hundred bird bones, together with feathers and egg shell. The majority of the bird bones have been identi®ed as domestic fowl Gallus gallus. Other species are rare: they include a few passage migrants and resident species. Finds of spurred tarsometatarsi and bones with medullary deposits indicate that both male and female domestic fowl are represented. It is likely that they were transported to the site from the Nile valley alive; some may have been kept at the settlement. Cut marks suggest that some at least were eaten, but the birds may have been used for different purposes, both secular and ritual.