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扮演着至关重要的角色--在社会起源之前就已经这样做了。乌鸦-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，导致了数千年来无数次人与乌鸦的互动。这种互动导致了人类和乌鸦之间在行为和文化上的共同进化，在整个历史上，人类和乌鸦相互学习和适应。在人类农业和城市扩张之后，Corvids学会了在新的人为生态环境中茁壮成长，在某些情况下，尽管我们尽了最大努力使用一系列被动威慑措施(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、精神变态(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，英国就会陷落。然而，这些黑翼鸟类在世界各地的神话和象征意义中占据了如此重要的地位，已经被诋毁为需要根除的“不洁”害虫，迫害至今仍在继续。这种乌鸦视角的二分法是如何产生的，以及至关重要的是，乌鸦是何时以及为什么被妖魔化的，人们几乎不了解。对人类与乌鸦关系的动物考古调查不仅将揭示相互作用动态如何随着时间的推移而变化，而且还将为更好地理解鸟类保护中的现代冲突奠定基础。这个项目将研究人与乌鸦关系如何、何时以及为什么随着时间的推移而变化，以及寻找考古证据来探索文化的共同进化。它将聚焦于从中石器时代到现在英国真正的乌鸦(普通乌鸦，Corvus Corax；腐肉乌鸦，Corvus corone；Rook，Corvus rugilegus；西部寒鸦，Corvus monedula)。它将采用四个跨学科的方法--结合动物考古学分析、图像和文学检查、同位素调查和保护观点--以回答以下问题，每一个都为下一步奠定了基础：1)乌鸦的表现及其沉积的背景如何随着时间的推移而变化？2)对个别鸟类和物种的对待如何随着时间的推移而变化？3)不断变化的宗教信仰如何影响人与乌鸦的关系？4)人类雕刻的环境如何改变乌鸦的行为？5)如何利用这种对乌鸦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鸟类学(用鸟类占卜未来)，从基督教的视角到现代冲突，在不断变化的风景和不断变化的文化中，我们将探讨人类和这些有翼的时代征兆之间的角色和关系。这项研究包括与历史英格兰、康尼什Jackdaw项目和Sigmund Oehrl的合作；这项研究由南、西和威尔士博士培训伙伴2资助，并由埃克塞特大学的Naomi Sykes教授和雷丁大学的Stuart Black博士监督。

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).