Abstract
The use of feathers in ritual costumes and everyday clothing is well described in ethnographic sources throughout the world. From the same sources we know that bird wings and feathers were loaded with meaning in traditional societies worldwide. However, direct archaeological evidence of prehistoric use of feathers is still extremely scarce. Hence, feathers belong to the ‘missing majority’: items that are absent from the archaeological record but which we can assume to have been of importance. Here we present microscopic analysis of soil samples from hunter-gatherer burial contexts which reveal the first direct evidence of the use of feathers in the Mesolithic period of north-eastern Europe.
Highlights
Use of feathers in both ritual costumes and paraphernalia and everyday clothing is well described in ethnographic and anthropological sources throughout the world (e.g. Holmberg 1922; Sillitoe 1988; Reina & Kensing ton 1991; Siikala 2002:282; Aguilera 2010; Kelly 2010)
We introduce the main methods used in microscopic archaeology and present some very preliminary results from the experimental first phase of our study of soil samples from archaeological sites in north-eastern Europe, with the aim of expanding evidence for the use of bird wings and feathers in archaeological mortuary contexts
We identified three feather fragments from the Riņņukalns grave from the deceased’s head and chest area, one feather fragment from the Donkalnis grave 2 from the deceased’s head and chest area, and one fragment from Yuzhiy Oleniy Ostrov (YOO) grave 29 (Table 2)
Summary
Use of feathers in both ritual costumes and paraphernalia and everyday clothing is well described in ethnographic and anthropological sources throughout the world (e.g. Holmberg 1922; Sillitoe 1988; Reina & Kensing ton 1991; Siikala 2002:282; Aguilera 2010; Kelly 2010). Use of feathers in both ritual costumes and paraphernalia and everyday clothing is well described in ethnographic and anthropological sources throughout the world The sources bear witness to the importance of bird feathers and skins as raw materials for garments such as clothes, headgear, pouches, bags and arrowheads. Given that the insulating qualities of feathers are an important aspect of their materiality, down has long been used as a stuffing material for pillows, quilts and clothes in colder regions (Hurcombe 2014:91–92; Rast-Eicher 2016:291 and cited references; Kirkinen et al in press). The most widespread use of feathers has been for decorative purposes (Serjeantson 2009:207). When people attached feathers to their garments, they did so for many purposes besides aesthetics. Early farmers in North America domesticated the turkey (Mealeagris gallopavo) for its feathers, which were used for colourful blankets and winter cloaks, while the most spectacular feathers were saved for ceremonial costumes (Gilligan 2019:172–173)
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