Birds Through Time in Türkiye: Morphological and Proteomic Approaches to Archaeological Avifauna

Türkiye has sustained a dynamic ecosystem from prehistory to the present, characterized by its rich biogeography and natural resources. Birds are essential components of this ecosystem and have maintained a close relationship with human communities and are currently represented by more than 500 species in Türkiye. When examined in an archaeological context, birds play a significant role in understanding past environments and climates; the cultural and symbolic life of prehistoric humans and human-environment entanglement. In this study, 97 zooarchaeological studies conducted at 94 archaeological sites across Türkiye were compiled and subjected to meta-data analysis to assess the extent to which birds have been studied in archaeological contexts. Our study shows that, despite the recent increase in zooarchaeological research in Türkiye, there are still significant gaps in the study of birds. After identifying the possible reasons for these gaps, we offer several research suggestions. These would enable high-quality analyses of bird eggs and bones —which are crucial for understanding past environmental conditions, seasonality, and early bird management— include: establishing a comprehensive ornithoarchaeological reference collection in Türkiye, training specialists interested in archaeological bird remains, and employing ancient protein analyses (paleoproteomics), which allow the identification of highly fragmented remains with high success rates. Additionally, within the scope of this study, recent rapid developments in paleoproteomics are briefly reviewed, and the methods are introduced.