Birds from Chalcolithic Settlements in the Plains of Bulgaria

Abstract

A first attempt has been made to present a general composition of birds found in Chalcolithic settlements in the plains and lowlands of Bulgaria. Based on data from 21 settlements, 78 bird taxa (including 3 domestic forms) have been identified. Of these, 56 species have been identified to the species level. They constitute 13.4% (almost 1/7) of the 417 recorded bird species in the country. Aquatic birds (waterfowl, grebes, loons, herons, etc.) predominate (29 species). There are 12 species inhabiting woodland landscapes. Ten species are field/openland birds, and five are petrophilous species that inhabit rocky and stony habitats. Five species have disappeared as nesting in the country—bearded vulture, great bustard, common crane, colchic pheasant (native colchicus ssp.), and black grouse. These five species constitute 8.9% of the established composition of birds in the Chalcolithic settlements in the country. One extinct subspecies of the Eurasian coot has been described from one of these settlements.

1. Introduction

Bulgaria is defined as a mountainous country, although this applies mainly to its southwestern half. Its northeastern part descends to the Danube River (to the north) and the Black Sea (to the east) and is occupied mainly by plains—the Danube Plain, the Upper Thracian Lowland, and the Burgas Lowland. Approximately 30% (about 34,000 km²) of the country’s territory is occupied by the plain-hilly relief. The Danubian lowlands are assumed to be 50–100 m a.s.l., and the average elevation of the Upper-Thracian Lowland is 165 m [1].

During the Neolithic and Chalcolithic in the Balkans, people settled in the lowlands, plains, and hilly parts of the mountains (usually at their foothills). Over 400 Chalcolithic monuments (mainly settlement mounds) are known in Bulgaria, located mainly in the Danube Plain, the Upper Thracian Lowland, and the Burgas Lowlands (Figure 1). In Western Bulgaria alone, there are 60 of them. It is assumed that the maximum population size during the Chalcolithic in Bulgaria amounted to about 100,000–120,000 people. The sizes of Chalcolithic settlements vary significantly. Most often they covered an area of 1500–2000 square meters. On average, the number of inhabitants in them varied from 80 to 120 people [2].

On the Balkan Peninsula, the beginning of the Chalcolithic refers to the end of the 5th and beginning of the 4th millennium BC, when, on the basis of the already completed Neolithic revolution, the first large multicultural complexes were consolidated here [2].

Birds, as an essential part of the fauna surrounding Chalcolithic settlements, have always played an important role in the material and spiritual life of people. The present study is the first attempt to present in a generalized form what is known so far about the composition and distribution of birds based on the study of Chalcolithic settlements in Bulgaria.

2. Material and Methods

This review includes data on birds from 21 Chalcolithic settlements in Bulgaria (Figure 2), located in the lowlands and plains (Table 1). The settlements in the table are arranged chronologically, but for many of them, the dating according to archeologists is presented within wider limits. The mountainous Chalcolithic settlements, which are also not few, are not included due to the scope of the present study.

The data were collected through a review of the entire Bulgarian archaeozoological literature concerning Chalcolithic settlements in the country. The author has personally participated in the study of almost half of the settlements. Archaeornithology is a completely new scientific field in Bulgaria, and such studies are still very rare in the country.

3. Results and Discussion

A total of 78 bird taxa have been identified in all 21 studied Chalcolithic sites in the lowland/plain landscapes of Bulgaria (Table 1). Of these, three are domesticated forms—domestic duck, domestic goose, and chicken. The remaining 75 species are representatives of the wild fauna (Figure 3). Of these, 56 species have been identified at the species level. They constitute 13.4% (almost 1/7) of the 417 identified bird species in the country [3].

Of this composition of 56 species, aquatic birds (waterfowl, grebes, loons, herons, etc.) predominate (29 species). There are 12 species inhabiting forest landscapes and 10 that live in open land grassy habitats. In addition, five other species are referred to as petrofylous birds.

The predominance of aquatic (hydrophylous) and open land field-steppe birds in open habitats are quite reasonable. Lowlands and plains are low-relief forms. They are morpho-structural units with a poorly dissected relief. They usually contain deltas and estuaries of rivers, as well as lagoons, limans, their meanders, backwaters, lakes, and swamps. Chalcolithic settlements were always located in areas with accessible sources of fresh water. It is well known that in temperate latitudes such areas are also distinguished by the greatest biodiversity [4]. Therefore, the feathered game that Chalcolithic hunters hunted provided a significant share of the necessary food resources for the population in these settlements.

Some waterfowl (grebes, coots, pond ducks, diving ducks, and divers) spend almost their entire lives in the water. Therefore, Chalcolithic hunters probably used hunting nets, arrows, and boats to reach the killed or wounded bird. Hunting dogs were probably very useful in this regard. Bone remains of medium-sized and small dogs have been found in almost all studied Chalcolithic settlements [5,6,7,8,9,10]. Unfortunately, special studies on hunting techniques during the Chalcolithic have not been carried out in Bulgaria so far.

The situation is similar with birds of open landscapes. They are usually represented in plains and lowlands, where they occupy areas further from the marshes around water bodies and swampy areas [11].

Among the birds of the open grasslands are the largest game species, such as the great bustard and the common crane. Due to the scarce hiding places for stalking game in the open plains, these birds were also difficult game birds.

Five of the established species have disappeared as nesting in the country—bearded vulture, great bustard, common crane, colchic pheasant (native Ph. c. colchicus ssp.), and black grouse [12]. These five species constitute 8.9% of the established composition of birds in the Chalcolithic settlements in the country. For the first time after almost 70 years of hiatus, the common crane nested again in 2023 [13]. The indigenous Colchis pheasant (Phasianus colchicus colchicus) became extinct in the 1980s–1990s due to hybridization with foreign pheasant subspecies (Ph. c. torquatus and Ph. c. mongolicus) bred by hunting farms [14,15]. The bearded vulture and the great bustard nested in the country until the 1960s [16,17].

Table 1. Lowland Chalcolithic settlements in Bulgaria and composition of their birds finds.

No	Locality/ Settlement	Location/ Province	Altitude (m)	Age	Species Composition	Reference
1.	Burgas	Burgas City (Burgas P.)	30	Early Chalcolithic	Anser sp./cf. A. anser, Anser erythropus, Ciconia, cf. Ciconia sp., Fulica atra pontica	[6]
2.	Cherdzhenitsa Cave	nr. Karlukovo v. (Lovech P.)	200	8000–4000 BC	Coturnix coturnix, Dryobates minor, Hirundo rustica, Ptyonoprogne rupestris/Riparia riparia, Lanius collurio, Clinclus cinclus, Turdis merula, Turdus philomelos, Monticola cf. saxatilis, Sylvia cf. atricapilla, Pyrrhula pyrrhula, Linaria cannabina	[18]
3.	Deneva Mound	nr. Salmanovo v. (Shumen P.)	92	Chalcolithic	Falconiformes indet.	[19,20]
4.	Dolnoslav	nr. Dolnoslav v. (Plovdiv P.)	370	6000–4000 BC	Tetrao urogallus, Phasianus colchicus, Ciconia ciconia	[7]
5.	Ezero	nr. Ezero v. (Sliven P.)	130	Late Chalcolithic—Early Bronze Age	Tetrao urogallus, Anser anser, Aves indet.	[21]
6.	Galabovo	nr. town of Galabovo (Stara Zagora P.)	83	Chalcolithic—Middle Bronze Age	Anser anser, Anser anser domestica, Anas platyrhynchos, Aquila chrysaetos, Gallus gallus domestica, Phasianus colchicus	[22]
7.	Golemiya Island	nr. Durankulak v. (Dobrich P.)	10	5000–4500 BC	Anas platyrhynchos domestica, Anas sp., Anser albifrons, Anser anser domestica, Anser anser, Anser sp., Aquila chrysaetos, Aquila heliaca, Aquila sp., Buteo buteo, Circus sp., Clanga pomarina, Corvus corone sardonius, Cygnus cygnus, Cygnus olor, Cygnus sp., Falco subbuteo, Fulica atra, Gavia arctica, Grus grus, Haliaeetus albicilla, Mergellus albellus, Otis tarda, Pelecanus onocrotalus, Phalacrocorax carbo, Podiceps cristatus, Podiceps grisegena, Spatula clypeata	[23,24,25]
8.	Golyamata Cave	nr. Belyakovets v. (Veliko Tarnovo P.)	354	Chalcolithic	“Aquila/Pandion”	[26,27,28]
9.	Golyamo Delchevo	nr. former Golyamo Delchevo v. (Varna P.)	260	Chalcolithic	Anser anser, Anas platyrhynchos, Tetrao urogallus	[29]
10.	Hotnitsa	nr. Hotnitsa v. (Veliko Tarnivo P.)	101	5000–4000 BC	Columba palumbus, Cygnus olor, Gallus gallus domestica, Gypaetus barbatus, cf. Otis tarda, Pica pica, Lyrurus tetrix	[5]
11.	Koprivets	nr. Koprivets v. (Ruse P.)	164	Late Neolithic—Chalcolithic	Corvus corone, Otis tarda	[23]
12	Malka Listsa Cave	nr. Belyakovets v. (Veliko Tarnovo P.)	354	Chalcolithic	Aves indet.	[27,28]
13.	Orehite	nr. Albena Resort (Dobrich P.)	15	Chalcolithic	Lanius collurio, Lullula arborea	[24]
14.	Ovcharovo	nr. Ovcharovo v. (Targovishte P.)	294	5000 BC	Anas platyrhynchos, Anser anser, Cygnus sp., Tetrao urogallus	[9,10,30,31]
15.	Pipra	nr. Deventsi v. (Pleven P.)	86	4200 BC	Anser anser, Gallus gallus domestica, Columba livia	[24]
16.	Sozopol	nr. town of Sozopol (Burgas P.)—sunken settlement	−12	5000-4000 BC	Accipitridae indet., Anas platyrhynchos, Anas querquedula, Anatinae indet., Ardea cinerea, Aythya nyroca, Fulica atra pontica, Gallus/Phasianus, Gavia arctica, Phalacrocorax carbo, Podiceps cristatus	[32,33]
17.	Telish-Redutite	nr. Telish v. (Pleven P.)	186	3450–3320 BC	Aquila chrysaetos, Phasianidae gen.	[8]
18.	Topolnitsa	nr. Topolnitsa v. (Blagoevgrad P.)		Late Neolithic—Early Chalcolithic	Accipitridae gen.	[24,34]
19.	Tsarskata Cave	nr. Belyakovetsv. (Veliko Tarnovo P.)	354	Chalcolithic	Aves indet.	[26,27,28]
20.	Urdoviza	pr. Kiten (Burgas P.)—sunken settlement	−10	5000–4000 BC	A. nyroca, Anas platyrhynchos, Anatinae gen., Anser albifrons, Anser anser, Anser erythropus, Aythya ferina, Aythya sp., Aythyni gen., cf. Aythya nyroca, cf. Phalacrocorax aristotelis, Cygnus sp., Fulica atra, Gavia arctica/stellata, Gavia stellata, Larus sp., Netta/Aythya, Pelecanus onocrotalus, Phalacrocorax carbo, Phalacrocorax carbo/aristotelis, Podiceps cristatus, Podiceps grisegena, Podiceps nigricollis	[35]
21.	Yaylata	nr. Sveti Nikola v. (Dobrich P.)	64	Chalcolithic	Apus apus, Columbidae indet., Coturnix coturnix, Fulica atra, Gallinula chloropus, Perdix perdix, Porzana cf. pussila, Rallus aquaticus, Recurvirostra avosetta	[24,25]

Table 1. Lowland Chalcolithic settlements in Bulgaria and composition of their birds finds.

No	Locality/ Settlement	Location/ Province	Altitude (m)	Age	Species Composition	Reference
1.	Burgas	Burgas City (Burgas P.)	30	Early Chalcolithic	Anser sp./cf. A. anser, Anser erythropus, Ciconia, cf. Ciconia sp., Fulica atra pontica	[6]
2.	Cherdzhenitsa Cave	nr. Karlukovo v. (Lovech P.)	200	8000–4000 BC	Coturnix coturnix, Dryobates minor, Hirundo rustica, Ptyonoprogne rupestris/Riparia riparia, Lanius collurio, Clinclus cinclus, Turdis merula, Turdus philomelos, Monticola cf. saxatilis, Sylvia cf. atricapilla, Pyrrhula pyrrhula, Linaria cannabina	[18]
3.	Deneva Mound	nr. Salmanovo v. (Shumen P.)	92	Chalcolithic	Falconiformes indet.	[19,20]
4.	Dolnoslav	nr. Dolnoslav v. (Plovdiv P.)	370	6000–4000 BC	Tetrao urogallus, Phasianus colchicus, Ciconia ciconia	[7]
5.	Ezero	nr. Ezero v. (Sliven P.)	130	Late Chalcolithic—Early Bronze Age	Tetrao urogallus, Anser anser, Aves indet.	[21]
6.	Galabovo	nr. town of Galabovo (Stara Zagora P.)	83	Chalcolithic—Middle Bronze Age	Anser anser, Anser anser domestica, Anas platyrhynchos, Aquila chrysaetos, Gallus gallus domestica, Phasianus colchicus	[22]
7.	Golemiya Island	nr. Durankulak v. (Dobrich P.)	10	5000–4500 BC	Anas platyrhynchos domestica, Anas sp., Anser albifrons, Anser anser domestica, Anser anser, Anser sp., Aquila chrysaetos, Aquila heliaca, Aquila sp., Buteo buteo, Circus sp., Clanga pomarina, Corvus corone sardonius, Cygnus cygnus, Cygnus olor, Cygnus sp., Falco subbuteo, Fulica atra, Gavia arctica, Grus grus, Haliaeetus albicilla, Mergellus albellus, Otis tarda, Pelecanus onocrotalus, Phalacrocorax carbo, Podiceps cristatus, Podiceps grisegena, Spatula clypeata	[23,24,25]
8.	Golyamata Cave	nr. Belyakovets v. (Veliko Tarnovo P.)	354	Chalcolithic	“Aquila/Pandion”	[26,27,28]
9.	Golyamo Delchevo	nr. former Golyamo Delchevo v. (Varna P.)	260	Chalcolithic	Anser anser, Anas platyrhynchos, Tetrao urogallus	[29]
10.	Hotnitsa	nr. Hotnitsa v. (Veliko Tarnivo P.)	101	5000–4000 BC	Columba palumbus, Cygnus olor, Gallus gallus domestica, Gypaetus barbatus, cf. Otis tarda, Pica pica, Lyrurus tetrix	[5]
11.	Koprivets	nr. Koprivets v. (Ruse P.)	164	Late Neolithic—Chalcolithic	Corvus corone, Otis tarda	[23]
12	Malka Listsa Cave	nr. Belyakovets v. (Veliko Tarnovo P.)	354	Chalcolithic	Aves indet.	[27,28]
13.	Orehite	nr. Albena Resort (Dobrich P.)	15	Chalcolithic	Lanius collurio, Lullula arborea	[24]
14.	Ovcharovo	nr. Ovcharovo v. (Targovishte P.)	294	5000 BC	Anas platyrhynchos, Anser anser, Cygnus sp., Tetrao urogallus	[9,10,30,31]
15.	Pipra	nr. Deventsi v. (Pleven P.)	86	4200 BC	Anser anser, Gallus gallus domestica, Columba livia	[24]
16.	Sozopol	nr. town of Sozopol (Burgas P.)—sunken settlement	−12	5000-4000 BC	Accipitridae indet., Anas platyrhynchos, Anas querquedula, Anatinae indet., Ardea cinerea, Aythya nyroca, Fulica atra pontica, Gallus/Phasianus, Gavia arctica, Phalacrocorax carbo, Podiceps cristatus	[32,33]
17.	Telish-Redutite	nr. Telish v. (Pleven P.)	186	3450–3320 BC	Aquila chrysaetos, Phasianidae gen.	[8]
18.	Topolnitsa	nr. Topolnitsa v. (Blagoevgrad P.)		Late Neolithic—Early Chalcolithic	Accipitridae gen.	[24,34]
19.	Tsarskata Cave	nr. Belyakovetsv. (Veliko Tarnovo P.)	354	Chalcolithic	Aves indet.	[26,27,28]
20.	Urdoviza	pr. Kiten (Burgas P.)—sunken settlement	−10	5000–4000 BC	A. nyroca, Anas platyrhynchos, Anatinae gen., Anser albifrons, Anser anser, Anser erythropus, Aythya ferina, Aythya sp., Aythyni gen., cf. Aythya nyroca, cf. Phalacrocorax aristotelis, Cygnus sp., Fulica atra, Gavia arctica/stellata, Gavia stellata, Larus sp., Netta/Aythya, Pelecanus onocrotalus, Phalacrocorax carbo, Phalacrocorax carbo/aristotelis, Podiceps cristatus, Podiceps grisegena, Podiceps nigricollis	[35]
21.	Yaylata	nr. Sveti Nikola v. (Dobrich P.)	64	Chalcolithic	Apus apus, Columbidae indet., Coturnix coturnix, Fulica atra, Gallinula chloropus, Perdix perdix, Porzana cf. pussila, Rallus aquaticus, Recurvirostra avosetta	[24,25]

The Eurasian coot issue is very interesting. Along with the usual (identical to modern) specimens, 159 bones of larger Eurasian coots were found in the 10 m deep submerged settlement near the town of Sozopol during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age [33]. Based on this material, a subfossil, now extinct subspecies of the Black Sea coot Fulica atra pontica Boev, 1998 [33], was described. This subspecies of the Eurasian coot was also established in the Chalcolithic settlement in Burgas—another Black Sea coastal settlement [6].

Some localities are included only for completeness (Nos. 3, 8, 12, 19; Table 1), although no information on the species composition of the bird bones found in them has been preserved. The finds have not been preserved, and no further data can be added, but the presence of bird bone finds was indicated in the relevant publications.

There is no doubt that the established composition of birds from the Chalcolithic settlements in the lowlands and plains of Bulgaria is quite incomplete. Although most of the modern birds (including in Bulgaria) are passerines (order Passeriformes), only 14 species (25% of all species) have been established in these settlements so far. This can only be explained by the imperfection of the methods of collecting materials during archeological excavations in the settlements. There, sieving and washing of the excavated soil were not applied, and the bone remains were extracted only by their macroscopic collection. For this reason, the bones of passerine birds (which are generally smaller species) are underrepresented.

However, the recorded 56 species of birds constitute 18.72% of all 299 species of birds (both non-Passeriformes and Passeriformes) established in the Quaternary of Bulgaria [36]. Regarding the share of the Chalcolithic in the duration of the Quaternary, things are much more disproportionate. The Chalcolithic in Bulgaria lasted 1000 ± 200 years [2], and the Quaternary 2,580,000 years [37], from which it follows that the Chalcolithic constitutes 0.038% of the duration of the entire Quaternary.

We do not have any reliable evidence for the importance of birds in the material and spiritual life of the Chalcolithic population in Bulgaria. In addition to their bone finds, the very rare cases of finding ornithomorphic figures, objects of applied art loaded with a special ritual and symbolic meaning, are also valuable. Such is assumed to have been the case for the ancient artists who recreated hunting and dance scenes on the walls of the Magurata cave in NW Bulgaria (Figure 4.)

In the 6th millennium BC, the average annual temperatures increased significantly and exceeded the modern ones by about 3 °C (the so-called climatic maximum). This favorable natural environment facilitated the movements, migrations, and settling of the Chalcolithic population in the region. The climatic maximum gradually began to recede towards the end of the 5th millennium BC, and by the 4th–3rd millennium BC, it passed into a climatic minimum, characterized by drought and a decrease in the average annual temperatures [2]. All this had its impact on the distribution of forest vegetation and the fullness of the inland freshwater bodies of water—rivers, lakes, and swamps, as well as the coastal estuaries and lagoons. The composition and distribution of birds, as is well known, are directly affected by climate change. The established predominance of waterfowl is probably also a confirmation of these interrelationships.

4. Conclusions

Despite the incompleteness of the research, 1/7 of the birds that inhabit the country today have been identified in the Chalcolithic settlements in the plains of Bulgaria.

Among the finds are those of a number of rare species today, such as Haliaeetus albicilla, Aquila heliaca, Aquila chrysaetos, Pelecanus onocrotalus, Mergellus albellus, and Anser erythropus. This is one of the first reports on the past distribution of these birds in the country.

In addition to them, five extinct species were also found—Gypaetus barbatus, Phasianus colchicus, Grus grus, Otis tarda, and Lyrurus tetrix. All of their locations are of historical importance for the past distribution of these species.

For some species, locations have been established that are today far from the range of their distribution. For example, Tetrao urogallus has not been found in the regions of Varna (Location No. 9) and Targovishte (Location No. 14), in the Sliven Balkan (Location No. 5), as well as in the vicinity of the village of Dolnoslav (Location No. 4) [39].

A total of eight former sites of five species have been identified, which do not exist today, i.e., their species ranges have shrunk, and they currently fall outside their limits.

Of the 56 identified bird species, 9 species turn out to be the most frequently hunted: Anser anser—found in 7 Chalcolithic settlements, Cygnus sp. (C. cygnus and C. olor)—also in 7 settlements, Fulica atra—in 5, Anas platyrhynchos—in 5, Gavia sp. (G. arctica and G. stellata)—in 5, Tetrao urogallus—in 4, Aquila chrysaetos—in 3, Ciconia sp. (incl. C. ciconia)—in 3, and Phalacrocorax carbo—in 3 settlements. It is noteworthy that all of them are relatively large birds. Their body mass varies from 0.6 kg (F. atra) to 23 kg (C. olor). Of these eight species, six are water birds (hygrophilous, i.e., water-loving) and mainly inhabit freshwater reservoirs. Some of these birds are traditional hunting objects. Geese, ducks, and coots are hunted with some restrictions even today.

The species composition of the studied settlements is quite diverse. The number of registered species varies from 1 to 28. Four settlements stand out among all 21 with the highest number of species registered in them: Golemiya Island—28 species, Urdoviza—23 species, Cherdzhenitsa Cave—12 species, and Sozopol—10 species. It is noteworthy that three of these settlements are seaside, located on the Black Sea coast.

Such interdisciplinary archeological-ornithological studies show how valuable information can be obtained through osteomorphological analysis of bird bone remains from ancient settlements. This can also complete the picture of their distribution in the past, which is important for the restoration of faunal diversity today.

Archaeornithology is a new archeozoological field in Bulgaria, which is a country extremely rich in archeological monuments. Bulgaria is the third in Europe (after Greece and Italy), and such research would contribute greatly to revealing the diverse relationships between humans and birds in the past.