New Data on Birds from the Ufa-II Medieval Site

Abstract

This paper deals with the study of birds bone remains from the cultural layers of the medieval site of federal significance, the Ufa-II hillfort. In the course of the study 112 bone remains of birds from this hillfort were studied. This site dates back to the V–XVI centuries. The material was collected during excavations in 2007–2008, 2017 and 2022. Nowadays it is kept in the museum of the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology UB RAS. Identification of bone remains was carried out using classical methods – morphological and morphometric, using the D. Poland size database and statistical package R. As a result of combining the obtained data with previous studies, the dominant and subdominant groups of birds inhabiting the territory of the site during the Middle Ages were determined. For the first time, bone remains of the poultry were found in the cultural layers of the settlement. On this basis it was possible to suppose what kind of hunting activity and poultry keeping the population of the fortified settlement was engaged in during the period of its existence. Thanks to the revealed ecological structure of avifauna, it was established what landscapes prevailed on the adjacent areas.

Keywords

• archaeozoology
• southern urals
• early middle ages
• ufa-ii
• bird remains