Current ICAZ Working Groups

Bird Working Group—

The Bird Working Group (BWG) is an interdisciplinary consortium of researchers (archaeozoologists, archaeologists, zoologists, ornithologists) interested in the study of bird remains recovered from archaeological sites from around the world. The BWG was created by an initiative of Arturo Morales-Muñiz in 1991.

The primary focus of this ICAZ Working Group is to examine the relationships between people and birds in prehistoric, historic, and, at times, contemporary contexts. Group interests include, but are not limited to, identification of bird bones, the taphonomy of avian remains, methods of analysis and interpretation, the use of birds, and representations of birds in art.

For further information about this working group, contact the BWG Liaison to ICAZ, Wietske Prummel (w.prummel@rug.nl).

BWG Meetings

1. Madrid, Spain (organized by Arturo Morales), October 1991
2. Southamphon, UK (organized by Dale Serjeantson), September 1995
3. Victoria, BC, Canada (organized by Rebecca Wigen), August 1998
4. Krakow, Poland (organized by Zbigniew M. Bocheñski, Zygmunt Bocheñski, Alicja Lasota-Moskalewska, and Teresa Tomek), September 2001
5. Münich, Germany (organized by Joris Peters, Gisela Grupe and Angela von den Driesch), July 2004

The 6th BWG meeting will be held August 23-27, 2008, at the Groningen Institute of Archaeology, Groningen University, The Netherlands. There will be three days of presentations plus a one-day bird watching trip to the Lauwersmeer (http://www.lauwersmeer.com/).

The call for papers and registration form can be found in the BWG Forum on BoneCommons (for a direct link to the forms click here Call for Papers and here Registration Form).

BWG Publications

1st Meeting: Archaeofauna 2 (1992),

2nd Meeting: International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 7(4) (1997),

4th Meeting: Acta zoological cracoviensia 45(special issue) (2002) (http://www.isez.pan.krakow.pl/journals/azc_v/azcv45.htm)

5th Meeting: Feathers, Grit and Symbolism: Birds and Humans in the Old and New Worlds edited by G. Grupe and J. Peters (2005). Documenta Archaeobiologiae 3. Verlag Marie Leidorf GmbH, Rahden/Westfalen.
(http://www.vml.de/e/detail.php?ISBN=3-89646-618-6&hl=documenta)

This information has been contributed by Wietske Prummel, BWG Liaison to ICAZ.