CROW - CultuRal co-evOlution of corvids: Winged omens of the times

Corvids - birds of the crow family - are among the most widespread, successful and intelligent birds in the world. A myriad of human-corvid interactions over the millennia has led to 'cultural co-evolution', wherein humans and crows have learned from and adapted to one another throughout history, as well as incorporation of corvids into myths, legends and symbolism. Yet these birds are also vilified as 'unclean' pests and omens of death to be persecuted. How this dichotomy in corvid perspectives arose and, crucially, when and why corvids became demonised, is little understood. This project addresses how, when and why human-corvid relationships in the UK changed over time, exploring cultural co-evolution on archaeological timescales. It considers all resident British corvids (raven, crow, rook, jackdaw, magpie, jay, chough) from the Palaeolithic to the present, combining zooarchaeological analysis, iconographic and literary examination, isotopic investigation, and ecological perspectives, to answer the following questions: 1) How did distributions of English corvids change within the archaeological record? 2) How have relationships with, treatments and perceptions of English corvids changed? 3) What factors influenced historic English corvid persecution? 4) How do these factors and historic biases play into corvid persecution today? 5) How can this deep-time understanding be utilised to improve modern relationships and conservation/management efforts? This study includes placements with Historic England and the Cornish Jackdaw Project, and collaborations with a several museums and collections. The research is funded by South, West and Wales Doctoral Training Partnership 2, and is supervised by Professor Naomi Sykes (University of Exeter) and Dr Stuart Black (University of Reading).