Avian Eggshell

The mineral portion of avian eggshell is calcium carbonate and is quite commonly preserved on archaeological sites with suitably alkaline stratigraphy. The structure of eggshell consists chiefly of columnar calcite crystals arranged roughly at right angles to the shell surface. In addition, birds�...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inArchaeological Soil and Sediment Micromorphology pp. 39 - 41
Main Author Canti, Matthew G
Format Book Chapter
LanguageEnglish
Published Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 12.09.2017
Subjects
alkaline stratigraphy
archaeological sites
avian eggshell
calcium carbonate
mollusc shells
occupation debris
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Summary:The mineral portion of avian eggshell is calcium carbonate and is quite commonly preserved on archaeological sites with suitably alkaline stratigraphy. The structure of eggshell consists chiefly of columnar calcite crystals arranged roughly at right angles to the shell surface. In addition, birds' eggshell fragments can be rapidly spotted in thin sections by holding the whole slide away from the microscope against a dark background and viewing obliquely. The eggshell stands out as a dense white line or, where a shell has been crushed in situ, lines following a segmented path. Mollusc shells are more transparent when viewed in this way and do not stand out so boldly. Eggshell is usually recovered from middens or occupation debris as part of a sieving regime but has occasionally been found in thin sections. This chapter presents two examples of bird's eggshell from Flixborough, Humberside, United Kingdom and Ober‐Alstadt, Switzerland.
ISBN:1118941055
9781118941058
DOI:10.1002/9781118941065.ch2