Robertson, Gail (Archaeological Sciences Laboratories, University of Queensland)

Birds of a Feather Stick: Archaeological Feather Residue Analysis

Most research into the identification of birds by microscopic analysis of their feathers has been in the areas of taxonomy, forensic science, ecological studies of carnivore feeding habits and aeronautical bird-strike incidents. Because these methods aim to determine the Order of bird to which a feather fragment belongs, it has been the identification of downy barbules which has been the essential focus. In archaeological research, however, the question may be directed to different levels of information, for example, not "what bird is that?" but "is it bird or not?". This paper examines some of the microscopic features of feathers used in both feather and bird identification and demonstrates the significance of this methodology in archaeological residue analysis.

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