Resumen de Broad spectrum or specialised activity? Birds and tortoises at the Epipalaeolithic site of Wadi Jilat 22 in the eastern Jordan steppe

Louis Martin, Yvonne H. Edwards, Andrew N. Garrard

• The analysis of rich bone assemblages from an Epipalaeolithic site in Jordan show that wing feathers were being extracted, probably for ornamental or ceremonial purposes, from eagles and buzzards. These raptors were perhaps caught by luring them with tortoises, evident from smashed shells in the same assemblage. The authors speculate on the symbolic value of eagles' wings among these pre-Neolithic people.