Not Just Food: the Snowy Owl in French magdalenian Sites

Véronique Laroulandie (1)

1 PACEA - De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie

Several Magdalenian sites from southwestern France have yielded bones of the Snowy Owl (Nyctea scandiaca). Although the number of calories provided by this bird is small when compared with larger mammals, how the exploitation of this species fit into a broader hunting strategy is unclear. In addition, zooarchaeological studies show that this bird of prey was not used simply as a food item. Bones and probably feathers were used as raw material, demonstrating that the Snowy Owl contributed to multiple aspects of the Paleolithic economy.

Mots clés: Prehistory; Archaeozoology; bird bone; snowy owl

Mots clés: Préhistoire; archéozoology; os d'oiseau; Harfang

Domaines: Archéologie et Préhistoire

Véronique Laroulandie. Not Just Food: the Snowy Owl in French magdalenian Sites. Abstracts of the 69th Annual Meeting Society for American Archaeology, Montréal, Canada, 31 mars 4 avril 2004. Symposuim 94 "Understanding Small Prey in Archaeological Sites: Theorical approaches and explanations", 2004, Washington, pp.199. ⟨halshs-00082738⟩