Archaeology and Stable Isotope Ecology of the Passenger Pigeon: Tracing the Prehistory of an Extinct Bird

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Human Interactions with Extinct Fauna" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The passenger pigeon, once the most abundant bird in the world, became extinct barely a hundred years ago. It has been assumed that the passenger pigeon was equally abundant prior to the European colonization of North America, but some have argued that the bird was nowhere near as common in prehistory. Because so much of what is known is based on historical records and anecdotal accounts, a central problem is the lack of knowledge regarding the ecology and behavior of this species and the extent to which passenger pigeons were used by prehistoric Native Americans. We review the paleontological and archaeological record of the passenger pigeon and its interactions with humans throughout the United States and Canada. We also report the results of stable isotope analyses of passenger pigeon bones that provide additional information on their ecology and migratory behavior, as well as Native American seasonal subsistence patterns.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Human Interactions with Extinct Fauna   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25289