It's interesting that the uses of left and right goose wing feathers falls so neatly into two: for right handers,
right wings for archery and left wings for quill pens, and for left handers, vice versa. I wonder which choice
influenced the other? Fletching arrows for hunting and war, or quill choice for making records? Was one
merely the use of remains from the other? In hunting you get your arrow back (on the whole; at any rate, if
you miss you have time to retrieve it) while in war you loose (and lose) many arrows in rapid succession.
In wartime the right wing feathers of geese are going to be in much heavier demand than left. Maybe the
scribes got the left wing quills because there were more available?
I hope I'm not over-thinking it.
When we used to pluck geese at our neighbour's farm only a few years ago, the cut-off wing tips complete
with feathers were reported by the farmer's wife to be in demand as hearth brushes by her acquaintances
who still had open/coal fires. I never heard low long they lasted or whether the wingtip (skin and tendons
etc) became unfeasibly smelly before the feathers wore out. I live in a pretty rural part of Cumbria
(perhaps I didn't need to say that!)
--Sue Millard MSc
Daw Bank, Greenholme, Tebay, Penrith, Cumbria CA10 3TA. 01539 624636.
http://www.dawbank.co.uk/
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On 21 Dec 2016 at 11:31, Stallibrass, Sue wrote:
>
> interesting thread & I'm learning a lot about archery...
>
> any info on:
>
> individual feathers for decoration/clothing (eg trimming of clothing,
> headgear, horse harness/fly disperser) I can see that these would all
> look more effective if the lines of curvature went in one direction
>
> my first thought was whole wings: used for sweeping motions eg
> cleaning/fans/applying powders or used to wrap infant burials
>
> I know nothing about arctic cultures: closest is 1950s Cowboys &
> Indians films with wobbly sets where 'red indians' wear feather
> headresses with long trains
>
> some cultures eg Maoris and others in south seas produce(d) amazingly
> complex feather capes etc. And there are lots of cultures where
> dancing involves fans, elaborate costumes etc. I'm sure there are
> norms for which way things curve.
>
> best wishes
> Sue
> ________________________________________
> From: Analysis of animal remains from archaeological sites
> [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Sue Millard [[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: 21 December 2016 11:09 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re:
> [ZOOARCH] SV: predominance of left wing in avian remains? - 2
>
> Also, yesterday - serendipity - some friendly archers popped up on my
> Facebook news:
>
> Leni Simons told me: "The rotation of the arrow depends on whether the
> feathers are taken from the right wing of the bird or the left.
>
> "Right wing feathers will make the arrow rotate clockwise, and are
> normally used by right handed archers.
>
> "Left wing feathers will make the arrow rotate anticlockwise and are
> used by left handed archers. Hope this helps."
>
> I'm sure you can make the obvious deductions!
>
> --Sue Millard MSc
> Daw Bank, Greenholme, Tebay, Penrith, Cumbria CA10 3TA. 01539 624636.
> http://www.dawbank.co.uk/ Attached PM$, MIME and other non-readable
> files contain information necessary for your e-mail application to
> read this message. They are not viruses and can be ignored.
>
> On 19 Dec 2016 at 14:25, Edouard Masson-MacLean wrote:
>
> > Dear Sue,
> >
> > Many thanks for the link. This is very interesting.
> >
> > Edouard
> >
> > > On 19 Dec 2016, at 14:00, Sue Millard <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > >
> > > http://archeryreport.com/2011/07/helical-straight-fletch-accuracy-
> > > re peatability/ explores the accuracy of curved vs straight
> > > fletching.
> > >
> > > Sue
> > >
> > > --Sue Millard
> > > Daw Bank, Greenholme, Tebay, Penrith, Cumbria CA10 3TA. 01539
> > > 624636. http://www.dawbank.co.uk/ Attached PM$, MIME and other
> > > non-readable files contain information necessary for your e-mail
> > > application to read this message. They are not viruses and can be
> > > ignored.
> > >
> > > On 19 Dec 2016 at 13:08, Torstein Sjövold wrote:
> > >
> > >> Edouard Masson-MacLean,
> > >>
> > >> Although not related to Arctic/Sub-Arctic cultures, during my
> > >> youth more than 50 years ago, it was said that for making the
> > >> best feather-balls when playing badminton only three particular
> > >> feathers from the left wing of gees should be used, otherwise the
> > >> feather-ball would not get the optimum spin when playing, which
> > >> also made them expensive.
> > >>
> > >> On the other hand, as I have been affiliated with the research
> > >> on the Iceman Ötzi, in his quiver there were two fletched arrows.
> > >> It was soon realized that the feathers were not aligned along the
> > >> shaft, but follwed the natural curvature of the feathers in order
> > >> to make the arrow spin to approve the accuracy when shooting.
> > >> Apparently, in modern archery the same principle is used. Since
> > >> using natural resources in this way goes more that 5000 years
> > >> back in time it was certainly known when fletching arrows was a
> > >> profession. Although the arrow tend to curve and wobble for a
> > >> while when leaving the bowstring and pass the right side of the
> > >> bow when the archer is right-handed, it might make a difference
> > >> whether the arrow spins to the left or to the right. As I am
> > >> personally not an expert in archery, when producing modern arrows
> > >> with curved fletching to make the arrow spin I would assume that
> > >> the direction of the spin is not at random. This should be easy
> > >> for you to check at a store purchasing archery equipment or to
> > >> contact a club dealing with traditional, or perhaps even modern,
> > >> competiton, archery
> > >>
> > >> Torstein Sjøvold
> > >> Professor emeritus in Historical osteology,
> > >> Stockholm university
> > >>
> > >> ________________________________________
> > >> Från: Analysis of animal remains from archaeological sites
> > >> <[log in to unmask]> för Serjeantson D.
> > >> <[log in to unmask]> Skickat: den 19 december 2016 12:07
> > >> Till: [log in to unmask] Ämne: Re: predominance of left wing
> > >> in avian remains?
> > >>
> > >> Dear Edouard,
> > >> It does not sound as if your assemblage is from a literate
> > >> culture but this is the only practical use of feathers from the
> > >> left wing that I can think of. This is (more or less) what I said
> > >> in Birds: "Quill pen, which were used as writing implements, were
> > >> made from the primary feathers. Those of geese and swans are
> > >> among the sturdiest, though feathers of other species can be
> > >> used. The second and third primaries are best, with those from
> > >> the left wing being the ideal fit for right-handed writers, and
> > >> those from the right wing for left-handers. The feathers of older
> > >> birds are of better quality than those of juveniles, and plucked
> > >> feathers are better than those from slaughtered birds". See also
> > >> Serjeantson, D. 2002. Goose husbandry in medieval England, and
> > >> the problem of ageing goose bones. Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia.
> > >> Proceedings of the 4th meeting of the ICAZ Bird Working Group,
> > >> Krakow, Poland, 11-15 September, 2001. , 45, 39-54.
> > >>
> > >> Best, Dale
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Dale Serjeantson
> > >> Visiting Fellow
> > >> Archaeology
> > >> University of Southampton
> > >> SO17 1BF
> > >>
> > >> [log in to unmask]
> > >>
> > >> www.southampton.ac.uk/archaeology/about/staff/dale.page
> > >>
> > >> http://pathbrite.com/BOS
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> From: zooarch
> > >> <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> on behalf
> > >> of Edouard Masson-MacLean
> > >> <[log in to unmask]<mailto:00000a34ad7
> > >> 57 2ec [log in to unmask]>> Reply-To: Edouard
> > >> Masson-MacLean
> > >> <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> Date:
> > >> Thursday, December 15, 2016 at 15:55 To: zooarch
> > >> <[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>> Subject:
> > >> [ZOOARCH] predominance of left wing in avian remains?
> > >>
> > >> Dear Zooarchs,
> > >>
> > >> I was wondering if anyone knew of the possible cultural value or
> > >> technical benefits (feathers?) of the left wing in birds and
> > >> gulls in particular among Arctic/Sub-Arctic cultures.
> > >>
> > >> Many thanks
> > >>
> > >> Edouard
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> -----------------------------------------------------
> > >> Edouard Masson-MacLean
> > >> PhD Candidate
> > >> AHRC/LaBex Research Assistant (York Archaeological Trust /
> > >> Northlight Heritage) Room 208 Department of Archaeology School of
> > >> Geosciences University of Aberdeen St. Mary's, Elphinstone Road
> > >> Aberdeen, AB24 3UF Scotland, UK
> > >>
> > >> -----
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> > >> 12/19/16
> > >>
> > >>
> >
> >
> >
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>
>
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