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132 Cranium Mandibula Scapula Clavicula Coracoideum Sternum Humerus Ulna Radius Carpometacarpus Vertebrae Pelvis Femur Tibiotarsus wzm 3 WA'AVJ JWJVJW} Tarsometatarsus jfc&j&r-j Phalanx 1 ifn cog t • KflBMCWWH StfWWBSB^iHIWWWBm .•:•••••••:•, FIGURE 2.—Diagram of relative representation of main skeletal elements for some bird species from the Ust' Poluisk settlement. The column for "cranium" includes maxillare. A, Ptarmigans (Lagopus); B, Bewick's and Whooper Swan (Cygnus); c, Eurasian Wigeon (Anas penelope), Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca), Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), and Northern Pintail (Anas acuta). E Lagopus lagopus and L. mutus 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 Cranium Mandibula Scapula Clavicula Coracoideum Sternum Humerus Ulna Radius Carpometacarpus Vertebrae Pelvis Femur Tibiotarsus Tarsometatarsus Phalanx October (Boikov, 1965). In late autumn Willow Ptarmigans start to migrate toward the timberline, at times reaching such a high density that they are commercially hunted (Potapov, 1985). Thus, late autumn through spring might have been the main ptarmigan-hunting period for the ancient Polui dwellers. The bones of Capercaillie {Tetrao urogallus Linnaeus) and Black Grouse {Lyrurus tetrix (Linnaeus)) found at the Ust' Poluisk site are from adults of both sexes. As in many archaeo SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO PALEOBIOLOGY Cranium Mandibula Scapula Clavicula Coracoideum Sternum Humerus Ulna Radius Carpometacarpus Vertebrae Pelvis Femur Tibiotarsus Tarsometatarsus B sssssssnggg mam. 1MWYVYH inJm Phalanx ffenlr niiiniiii llllllllllllllmii iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII mum iiniiiiiiiiiiiiiii IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIII IIUIIIIIllllllllll 11 ITTTITTTOTTTI mmm IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII DIM IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII II "iiniii • Cygnus cygnus M Cygnus bewickii IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII mi mill IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII iiiiiiiiiiiinmii IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII \.mm.*.v*\v^t.*.VMlv .MMII 10 15 20 25 30 S Anas platyrhynchos • Anas crecca ED Anas penelope O Anas acuta 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 logical sites on the northern Russian Plain, their remains are much less numerous than those of Lagopus. Geese and ducks also were important groups at the Ust' Poluisk site, where their remains can be easily explained by the presence of the Polui River. Waterfowl could have been hunted during both the breeding and the migration seasons. Of the waterfowl, it appears that the hunters from ancient Ust' Poluisk preferred teals {Anas spp.), Greater White-fronted
NUMBER 89 133 {Anser albifrons (Scopoli)) and Bean geese {Anser fabalis (Latham)), and Eurasian Wigeons {Anas penelope Linnaeus). These species each make up 8% to 34% of all individuals. Geese and swans were presumably hunted during the very short molting season (mid-July) or during migration. Hunting molting geese was a common practice for local tribes at the Lena River mouth (Kosarev, 1987b) and the Kolyma River (Wrangel, 1848) in the eighteenth century. The relative numbers of each of the skeletal elements of waterfowl are similar to those for Willow Ptarmigans (Figure 2B,C), although few or no sterna of swans or of Greater Whitefronted or Bean Geese were found. The sternum, as would be the case for other inedible parts of the skeleton, was presumably used for a variety of purposes. The 17 spoons examined from the site were made of bird sterna belonging to loons {Gavia sp., 11 spoons), a goose (1) a Greater White-fronted Goose (1), eagles {Aquila chrysaetos (Linnaeus) or Haliaeetus albicilla (Linnaeus)) (2), a Mallard {Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus) (1), and an Oldsquaw {Clangula hyemalis (Linnaeus)) (1). Moshinskaya (1953) considered the spoons made of large-waterfowl sterna to be the most archaic elements among the spoon-like tools that might have been used by inhabitants in rituals at the site. Production of various types of spoons from bird sterna has been well documented in recent times. The Mansi used bone spoons during sacrificial and burial rituals, and in Nenets folklore, the main hero Pornene, half woman and half bear, used the sternum of a swan as a spoon (Moshinskaya, 1953). Northern Pintails {Anas acuta Linnaeus) and Green-winged Teal {Anas crecca Linnaeus) are represented primarily by wings. Northern Pintails are rare in the bone remains from this site, although they have been very numerous in the lower Ob' region in recent times. People of northern Russia still use duck wings with brightly colored feathers as a decoration for clothing and housewares. Today, bird wings are used for applying cooking oil when preparing pancakes or other foods in rural houses and in Russia's urban areas. The people of the lower Kolyma region commonly use wings of geese as rubbish brushes (brooms) in their cabins (E.R. Potapov, pers. comm., 1997). In the past, wings of Northern Shovelers {Anas clypeata Linnaeus), Northern Pintails, and Green-winged Teals were probably used for similar purposes. Loons and gulls, which are migratory species, can be obtained in the lower Ob' River region between May and August (Flint, 1988; Yudin and Firsova, 1988). The relatively few remains of loons and Herring Gulls {Larus argentatus Pontoppidan) at Ust'Polusik, species common in the lakes and rivers of the tundra-forest zone today, could suggest that these species were rarely hunted and were less desirable. It also could indicate that they were less common 2000 years ago. The skeletalelement representation of these species is similar to that of the Willow Ptarmigan and suggests full utilization by ancient hunters (Figure 3A). The skins of loons and Great Crested Grebes {Podiceps cristatus (Linnaeus)) now are greatly valued for their use in clothing (Kolosov et al., 1975), and these species might have been hunted in the site area for the same purpose. Loons could have been used for fat, which generally is of great value for northern peoples. Between 1000 BC and medieval times, inhabitants of the Udal and Buckquoy sites, in the Outer Hebrides and Orkney Islands, respectively, hunted loons exclusively for fat (Serjeantson, 1988); however, gull remains at Mesolithic and early medieval sites in northern Scandinavia and Scotland are rare (A.K. Hufthammer, pers. comm., 1991; Serjeantson, 1988). Therefore, it is probable that rather than being less desirable species, loons and gulls were less common in the Ust' Poluisk area when the site was occupied. The remains of owls at Ust' Poluisk belong to three large species: the Snowy Owl {Nyctea scandiaca (Linnaeus)), which is the most abundant; the Eagle Owl {Bubo bubo (Linnaeus)); and the Great Gray Owl {Strix nebulosa Forster). Among the bird images on tools and kitchenware found at the site, there was one bronze, stylized owl (Adrianov, MSc). Because of the frequency of their remains, it appears that owls were specifically hunted. Derugin (1898) reported that the local people hunted owls in autumn and winter, when owls accumulated large quantities of fat and were considered a delicacy. Their wings were subsequently used as fans against mosquitoes. The Samoeds (Nentsy), of the Yamal Peninsula, Russia, hunted owls using nooses fixed on high poles (Shukhov, 1915) and using traps at nests (Zhitkov, 1912). Indians of the North American Great Plains treated owls as a superstitious power and sometimes even as a medicine. They kept owls in captivity for soothsaying and used their feathers (especially those of the Great Horned Owl, Bubo virginianus (Gmelin)) for ceremonies and dances. Some tribes utilized certain species of owls for food, and there is evidence that the Arikara Indians ate Great Horned Owls (Parmalee, 1977a). At the sacrificial area of the Ust' Poluisk site, a number of bones of Golden and White-tailed Eagles were found. Golden Eagles {Aquila chrysaetos) were represented by disproportionately high numbers of skulls, one of which has had the upper part completely cut off (Figure 4c,D). White-tailed Eagles {Haliaeetus albicilla) were represented by full sets of bones (Figures 3B,C), and, unlike Golden Eagles, they were buried intact. The different proportions of skeletal elements suggest different uses for these species. Among the bones of White-tailed Eagles, one tibia and one ulna (out of a minimum of 10 individuals found at the site) had been broken and had grown back together (Figure 4A,B). Birds with healed broken bones are rare in the wild. In the remains from the Ust' Poluisk site there were only two other cases of knitted fractures found: one femur of a Willow Ptarmigan (0.5% of individuals) and one fibula of a Greater White-fronted Goose (2.0% of individuals). Among several thousand Pleistocene bones from the Binagady asphalts (eastern Caucasus), only two were found with knitted fractures: one mallard and one Steppe Eagle {Aquila rapax Temminck) (Burchak-Abramovich, 1949, 1968). In ducks, healed fractures may be found
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132<br />
Cranium<br />
Mandibula<br />
Scapula<br />
Clavicula<br />
Coracoideum<br />
Sternum<br />
Humerus<br />
Ulna<br />
Radius<br />
Carpometacarpus<br />
Vertebrae<br />
Pelvis<br />
Femur<br />
Tibiotarsus<br />
wzm<br />
3<br />
WA'AVJ<br />
JWJVJW}<br />
Tarsometatarsus jfc&j&r-j<br />
Phalanx<br />
1 ifn cog t •<br />
KflBMCWWH<br />
StfWWBSB^iHIWWWBm<br />
.•:•••••••:•,<br />
FIGURE 2.—Diagram of relative representation<br />
of main skeletal elements for some bird species<br />
from the Ust' Poluisk settlement. The column<br />
for "cranium" includes maxillare. A, Ptarmigans<br />
(Lagopus); B, Bewick's and Whooper Swan<br />
(Cygnus); c, Eurasian Wigeon (Anas penelope),<br />
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca), Mallard<br />
(Anas platyrhynchos), and Northern Pintail<br />
(Anas acuta).<br />
E Lagopus lagopus and L. mutus<br />
10 15 20 25 30 35 40<br />
Cranium<br />
Mandibula<br />
Scapula<br />
Clavicula<br />
Coracoideum<br />
Sternum<br />
Humerus<br />
Ulna<br />
Radius<br />
Carpometacarpus<br />
Vertebrae<br />
Pelvis<br />
Femur<br />
Tibiotarsus<br />
Tarsometatarsus<br />
Phalanx<br />
October (Boikov, 1965). In late autumn Willow Ptarmigans<br />
start to migrate toward the timberline, at times reaching such a<br />
high density that they are commercially hunted (Potapov,<br />
1985). Thus, late autumn through spring might have been the<br />
main ptarmigan-hunting period for the ancient Polui dwellers.<br />
The bones of Capercaillie {Tetrao urogallus Linnaeus) and<br />
Black Grouse {Lyrurus tetrix (Linnaeus)) found at the Ust'<br />
Poluisk site are from adults of both sexes. As in many archaeo<br />
SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO PALEOBIOLOGY<br />
Cranium<br />
Mandibula<br />
Scapula<br />
Clavicula<br />
Coracoideum<br />
Sternum<br />
Humerus<br />
Ulna<br />
Radius<br />
Carpometacarpus<br />
Vertebrae<br />
Pelvis<br />
Femur<br />
Tibiotarsus<br />
Tarsometatarsus<br />
B<br />
sssssssnggg<br />
mam.<br />
1MWYVYH<br />
inJm<br />
Phalanx<br />
ffenlr<br />
niiiniiii<br />
llllllllllllllmii<br />
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII mum<br />
iiniiiiiiiiiiiiiii IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIII<br />
IIUIIIIIllllllllll 11 ITTTITTTOTTTI mmm<br />
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII<br />
DIM<br />
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIII<br />
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII II<br />
"iiniii<br />
• Cygnus cygnus<br />
M Cygnus bewickii<br />
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII mi mill IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII iiiiiiiiiiiinmii IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII<br />
\.mm.*.v*\v^t.*.VMlv .MMII<br />
10 15 20 25 30<br />
S Anas platyrhynchos<br />
• Anas crecca<br />
ED Anas penelope<br />
O Anas acuta<br />
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90<br />
logical sites on the northern Russian Plain, their remains are<br />
much less numerous than those of Lagopus.<br />
Geese and ducks also were important groups at the Ust'<br />
Poluisk site, where their remains can be easily explained by the<br />
presence of the Polui River. Waterfowl could have been hunted<br />
during both the breeding and the migration seasons.<br />
Of the waterfowl, it appears that the hunters from ancient<br />
Ust' Poluisk preferred teals {Anas spp.), Greater White-fronted
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