Whose talon is this? A manual for the identification of ungual phalanges of European birds of prey: Falcons and owls.

This paper is the first of two scheduled publications for this project. It contains a dichotomous key to the identification of the ungual phalanges of European owls and falcons; the second part will contain accipitrids. The manual(s) will facilitate the work of zooarchaeologists and palaeontologists, especially since comparative specimens in osteological collections are often difficult to access and/or incomplete. This, in turn, will indirectly contribute to a more in‐depth interpretation of zooarcheological materials, because bird talons were used to produce symbolic objects and decorations in different archeological periods and in various geographical areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]