TALK 1: Sam Walker
Avifaunas in medieval Norway
Sam Walker is a PhD student at the Natural History department of the University Museum Bergen. His research focuses on large-scale patterns in Scandinavian avifaunas, and he will be presenting his current work on avifaunal remains from medieval sites in predominantly southern Norway. His work shows an abundance of domestic species in urban sites vs exploitation of wild species in rural sites. Moreover, there is evidence for selective hunting of sea-eagles, hawking and cock-fighting.
TALK 2: Hanneke Meijer
Fossil birds from Southeast Asia
Hanneke Meijer is an Associate Professor and Curator of Osteology at the Natural History department of the University Museum Bergen. She will present an overview of her work on avian assemblages from Island Southeast Asia. Despite being a current biodiversity hotspot, little is known regarding past processes and events that have shaped current avian distribution in the region. However, recent and ongoing excavations are slowly adding new data and patterns of past avian biodiversity are emerging.