3000 years old bird’s humerus recovered in excavation from Ladakh, Trans-Himalaya

Abstract

A bird’s humerus has been recovered from a microvertebrate subfossil accumulation bearing sand layer from a fluvial-lacustrine section exposed near the village Shachukul, Tangtse Valley, Ladakh. This is the first report of this kind of material from Trans-Himalaya. The specimen bone is identified as humerus bone of Coturnix coturnix(common quail), dated to 3400±40yr BP. The finding of such a high degree of preservation of bones with soft tissues indicates a sudden burial of the whole assemblage, including this bone might have caused by a flash-flood like event. This could be a roosting site for any carnivore mammal or a bird or a communal roosting site for any kind of a bird community. The ratio of skeletal and dental elements, preservation of scats/droppings with remains of bones and hair, the absence of long-distance fluvial transport features on the bones, supports an accumulation and burial of the scatological material at the site of origin.