The avian creatures we have fortunately become acquainted with in Part II of this book have been assembled and unfolded in different contexts, and, as will become clear in the following, different contexts seem to assemble and unfold different avian creatures. Following the theoretical position outlined in Chapter 1 – agential realist perspectivism – these configurations are no coincidence, but the result of intra-acting avian creatures whom possessed – and still possess – their own power in relationships with human beings. This is an ongoing process. New archaeological excavations as well as new reassessments of older assemblages unfold new intra-actions and understandings of the Bronze Age as well as our contemporary worldings. But how can we move beyond studying how humans have handled and perceived avian creatures in the Bronze Age, to explore how the intra-actions of these creatures contributed in unfolding the worldings of human beings during this era? Is it even possible?

This chapter deals with bird depictions that have been pecked and engraved in stone during the MBA and LBA in North Europe.2 Before we embark on this odyssey, it is important to underline that informed methods and historical sources have established that birds need not be depicted figuratively in order to constitute a vital part of the creation, use, and significance of rock art. Among Australian Aboriginals, for example, ancestors – some of them in the form of birds – often played a profound role in the creation of country, law, and cultural customs. There are more than 450 known Aboriginal creation stories related to birds documented through anthropological and historical sources, expressing how 116 bird species came about.3 Today, even more stories and myths are expressed and are waiting to be recorded. These creation stories are mediated through everyday practices and retold not only in informal conversations, but also as legends and myths.4 They are also enacted through songs, dance, body art, material culture, bark paintings, and sometimes also as rock art. Among other things, these stories embody certain events where ancestral beings created laws and customs before they were transformed into prominent landmarks, such as rivers, trees, cliffs, stones, ochers, land and sea animals, and birds.5 In some areas, ancestral beings in the form of birds are endorsed as the artists responsible for particular rock art images.6

The aim of this and the forthcoming chapters in Part III of this book is to gather all loose feathers from previous chapters, draw some conclusions about the interpretations put forward so far, and fashion some kind of a hen in form of some new thoughts and interpretations about Bronze Age worldings.

Chapter 9 concludes by revisiting the key ideas of the palaeoeconomy school to evaluate their continued relevance and also discusses how to strike the best balance in theoretical approach between economic, environmental, social and cultural factors. The volume ends with a discussion of up and coming challenges and opportunities in the field.

Chapter 8 presents another integrated case study addressing the origins of domestic horses and pastoralism in Central Asia, focussing on modern day Kazakhstan during the Eneolithic and Bronze Age. As well as discussing issues of animal domestication it also considers questions of mobility and aspects of social zooarchaeology amongst pastoralists.