Dale's post about which feathers are/were best for use as quills now has
me off on a tangent.
I've been working on Jewish genealogy and have been learning which
occupations were common with 18th/19th century Anglo-Jews and which of
those occupations sometimes went together. One pairing was the rag trade
with paper-making. A number of people in my ancestry were quill makers,
but I haven't found it associated with, say, poulterers (is that a word?).
Not a question, I guess, so much as a ponder ... Unless anyone knows of
a pairing?
Eve
of no related profession, pondering in Toronto
On 19/12/2016 6:07 AM, Serjeantson D. wrote:
> 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
>
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> www.southampton.ac.uk/archaeology/about/staff/dale.page
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> http://pathbrite.com/BOS
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