Birds of the Middle Volga River Region in 5th to 18th Centuries AD (based on the materials of archaeological excavations)

Summarized research data of bird bone remains remnants from 23 archaeological sites located in the Middle Volga area and referring to the 5th–18th centuries AD are presented in the article. The material has been considered in accordance with four cultural-chronological periods: the 5th to 7th centuries AD (the Imenkovo culture); the 10th – first half of the 13th century (Volga Bulgaria); second half of the 13th to the 15th century (the Golden Horde period), and the mid-16th through 18th century (the Middle Volga river region within the Russian state). It has been found that the remains of birds from the medieval and post-medieval archaeological sites of the Middle Volga region reflect a wide specific diversity. The data about the time of domestic birds appearance in the Middle Volga region are provided. The quantitative ratio of bone remains of wild and domestic birds in the period from the Early to the Later Middle Ages and afterwards makes it possible to trace the tendency to the increase in the share of domestic birds. Bird utilization by different ethnic groups of the medieval population of the region was diverse: for food, for feathers and down, as well as in ritual and religious practice.