CROW - CultuRal co-evOlution of corvids: Winged omens of the times

鸟类在我们的生态系统和我们的生活中起着至关重要的作用-而且在社会起源之前就已经这样做了。鸦科动物--包括乌鸦、乌鸦和寒鸦--是世界上分布最广、最成功、最聪明的鸟类之一，数千年来人类与鸦科动物的互动不计其数。这种相互作用导致了人类和乌鸦之间的行为和文化共同进化，人类和乌鸦在历史上相互学习和适应。在人类农业和城市扩张之后，鸦科动物学会了在新的人类生态位中茁壮成长，在某些情况下，尽管我们尽了最大的努力试图使用一系列被动威慑（例如稻草人）或更致命的方法来劝阻它们。在许多文化中，乌鸦被视为神的使者、先知、预兆、通灵者（死者的向导）和战斗的预兆;在英国，据说如果乌鸦离开伦敦塔，英国就会沦陷。然而，这些在世界各地的神话和象征中如此突出的黑翅鸟已被诬蔑为应被根除的“不洁”害虫，迫害至今仍在继续。这种鸦科动物观点中的二分法是如何产生的，以及关键的是，鸦科动物何时以及为何被妖魔化，人们知之甚少。通过动物考古学研究人类与鸦科动物之间的关系，不仅可以揭示人类与鸦科动物之间的互动动态是如何随着时间的推移而变化的，还可以为更好地理解鸟类保护中的现代冲突奠定基础。本项目将探讨人类与鸦科动物之间的关系如何、何时以及为什么随着时间的推移而变化，并寻找考古学证据来探索文化的共同进化。它将集中在真正的乌鸦（普通乌鸦，乌鸦corax;腐肉乌鸦，乌鸦corone;鲁克，乌鸦frugilegus;西部寒鸦，乌鸦monedula）在英国从中石器时代到现在。它将采用四重跨学科的方法-结合动物考古学分析，图像和文学检查，同位素调查和保护的观点-回答以下问题，每一个奠定了基础，下一个：1）如何corvid的代表性和他们的沉积环境随着时间的推移而变化？2)随着时间的推移，对个别鸟类和物种的处理是如何变化的？3)宗教信仰的改变如何影响人类与柯维德人的关系？4)人类塑造的环境如何改变了corvid的行为？5)如何利用这种对鸦科动物的深刻理解来改善现代关系和保护工作？从农业的黎明到罗马的鸟类占卜（用鸟来占卜未来），从基督教的观点到现代冲突，在不断变化的景观和不断变化的文化中，人类和这些时代的翅膀预兆之间的角色和关系将被探索。这项研究包括与历史英格兰，康沃尔语寒鸦项目和西格蒙德Oehrl合作;该研究由南部，西部和威尔士博士培训伙伴关系2资助，并由Naomi Sykes教授（埃克塞特大学）和Stuart Black博士（阅读大学）监督。

Birds play vital roles in our ecosystems and our lives - and have done so since before the origins of society. Corvids - including ravens, crows and jackdaws - are among the most widespread, successful and intelligent birds in the world, leading to a myriad of human-corvid interactions over the millennia. Such interactions have led to behavioural and cultural co-evolution between people and corvids, wherein humans and crows have learned from and adapted to one another throughout history. Corvids have learnt to thrive in new anthropogenic niches following human agricultural and urban expansion, in some cases despite our best efforts in trying to dissuade them using a range of passive deterrents (e.g. scarecrows) or far more lethal methods. Across many cultures, corvids have been seen as messengers of the gods, prophets, omens, psychopomps (guides of the dead), and heralds of battle; in the UK, it is said if the ravens were to leave the Tower of London, Britain would fall. Yet these black-winged birds that feature so prominently in mythologies and symbolism around the world have become vilified as 'unclean' pests to be eradicated, with persecution ongoing today. How this dichotomy in corvid perspectives arose and, crucially, when and why corvids became demonized, is little understood. Zooarchaeological investigations of human-corvid relationships will not only unveil how interaction dynamics have changed over time, but also lay foundations for better understanding modern conflicts in avian conservation.This project will address how, when and why human-corvid relationships changed over time, as well as seeking archaeological evidence to explore cultural co-evolution. It will focus on true corvids (common raven, Corvus corax; carrion crow, Corvus corone; rook, Corvus frugilegus; western jackdaw, Corvus monedula) in Britain from the Mesolithic to the present. It will adopt a four-fold interdisciplinary approach - combining zooarchaeological analysis, iconographic and literary examination, isotopic investigation, and conservation perspectives - to answer the following questions, each one laying the foundation for the next:1) How does corvid representation and the contexts of their deposition change through time?2) How did the treatment of individual birds and species change through time?3) How did changing religious beliefs impact human-corvid relations?4) How have human-sculpted environments altered corvid behaviour?5) How can this deep-time understanding of corvids be utilised to improve modern relationships and conservation efforts?From the dawn of agriculture to Roman ornithomancy (divination of the future using birds), from Christian perspectives to modern conflicts, amidst changing landscapes and shifting cultures - the roles and relationships between humans and these winged omens of the times will be explored. This study includes collaborations with Historic England, the Cornish Jackdaw Project and Sigmund Oehrl; the research is funded by South, West and Wales Doctoral Training Partnership 2, and supervised by Professor Naomi Sykes (University of Exeter) and Dr Stuart Black (University of Reading).