Archaeo-ornithology and the synanthropisation of bids: a case study for Bulgaria
Zlatovar Boev

ABSTRACT: This work represents an attempt to analyze the synanthropisation process in Bulgarian avifaunas from the perspective of an ornithoarchaeological study which includes a review of 23 archaeological settlements with 555 bones from 64 wild species. From the analysis we believe that the first synanthropic/synurbanist birds in Bulgaria start appearing during the Bronze Age-Iron Age times and that this group of anthropic birds is a rather important component of the avian taxocenosis (close to 50% of the taxa retrieved). There is a correspondence between the degree of synanthropisation and the age of the earliest finds of a species in archaeological sites. The group of the most poorly synanthropised birds (seasonal synanthropes) is not only the one with the oldest finds but also the most abundant one in the assemblages, as also happens today in ornithocenosis.