Ancient Falconry

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Falconry has long been regarded as a noble sport, and it has a very ancient pedigree. According to traditional views, people first began to use tame birds of prey for hunting game in central Asia during the first or second millennium BC. Through trade and other contacts, the practice then extended westwards into the Middle East, and eventually to Europe.

But that theory raises a major puzzle. The first artistic views of falconry come not from the Far East, but from Turkey. Several carvings from around 1500 BC show a large bird on the fist of a human figure. Grasped in the same fist is the figure of a hare (presumably the quarry) held by the back legs.

Another, somewhat later, example has been found in northern Iraq. Dated to the period of King Sargon II (722-705 BC), this bas-relief depicts a small bird of prey on the wrist of a man. Significantly, this carving seems to show ‘jesses’ (leather thongs used to secure the bird to the human fist), tied to the bird’s feet and passing between the thumb and forefinger of the falconer. If so, it may indicate that falconry (and its paraphernalia) was well developed by the eighth century BC in the Middle East.

In both cases, some researchers have interpreted these carvings as purely religious or symbolic scenes. But if these examples do indeed depict hawking, then the sport is at least 3,500 years old in Western Eurasia.

New meat on old bones

Archaeological excavations are now throwing an exciting new light on the origin of falconry in the Middle East, along with new clues to the reasons why – and when – it began. The name of the game is zooarchaeology - the study of the bones of fossil mammals and birds.

In recent years, archaeologists have excavated many early human settlements in Israel, Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Iran which date back to 8000-10,000 BC. Among the remains, they have consistently uncovered the bones of birds of prey. Most researchers interpret these bones as remnants of food left by the humans living at those sites, or as elements of religious activities.

But could there be an alternative explanation? For example, these fragile remains might represent the earliest management and training of living birds of prey - and the possible first faltering steps towards falconry. (The term ‘falconry,’ incidentally, is used to cover all trained birds of prey, not just the birds known as falcons.)