fullscreen

eFinder

eFinder

Home › Article

Friend or foul? Exploring the ancient bond between pigeons and people

Phys · · 530 words · By Antiquity
headphones Listen to the eFinder podcast briefing
Generate a natural audio summary of this story
Daily briefing

What to know about Friend or foul? Exploring the ancient bond between pigeons and people

Researchers analyzing bird bones from the Late Bronze Age site of Hala Sultan Tekke in Cyprus found evidence that pigeons were semi-domesticated as early as 1400 BCE. This discovery pushes back the known timeline of pigeon domestication by nearly 1,000 years and suggests the birds played a role in ritual feasts.

Propaganda risk 10%
Claims checked 7
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center80%
Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Exploring the ancient bond between pigeons and people Lisa Lock Scientific Editor Robert Egan Associate Editor Examination of pigeon bones from Late Bronze Age Hala Sultan Tekke, Cyprus indicates they were already semi-domesticated as early as c.

Why it matters

1400 BCE, pushing back direct evidence for pigeon domestication almost 1,000 years and challenging perceptions of the birds as opportunistic urban pests.

Common ground

Rock doves or common pigeons (Columba livia) have a long history of coexistence with humans, kept as pets, meat and fertilizer and associated with various religious beliefs.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Researchers analyzing bird bones from the Late Bronze Age site of Hala Sultan Tekke in Cyprus found evidence that pigeons were semi-domesticated as early as 1400 BCE. This discovery pushes back the known timeline of pigeon domestication by nearly 1,000 years and suggests the birds played a role in ritual feasts.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-05-friend-foul-exploring-ancient-bond.html

analyticsAnalysis

10%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 100%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 7 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

verified Verified By Reference 4
info Single Source 2
verified Verified 1
info
Claim 1: “Anderson L. Carter et al, Uncovering the lives of rock doves (Columba livia) in Late Bronze Age Hala Sultan Tekke, Cyprus, Antiquity (2026). doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2026.10351”
SINGLE SOURCE
The web search results for this claim returned generic study tools (Study.com, Quizlet) and did not find the specific academic paper by Anderson L. Carter et al. in Antiquity.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Take online courses on Study.com that are fun and engaging. Pass exams to earn real college credit. Research schools and degrees to further your education.
https://study.com/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Master any subject with Studley AI. Trusted by more than 2,000,000 top students. Create beautiful and interactive notes, flashcards, quizzes and podcasts from any content. Study smarter, not harder.
https://www.studley.ai/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — How do you want to study? Master whatever you’re learning with Quizlet’s interactive flashcards, practice tests, and study activities.
https://quizlet.com/
verified
Claim 2: “researchers studied bird bones from the 1650–1150 BCE harbor city of Hala Sultan Tekke, Cyprus, using zooarchaeology to identify Columba livia specimens and isotope analysis to examine their diets.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
While evidence confirms Hala Sultan Tekke is an archaeological site in Cyprus, there is no evidence in the provided results regarding a specific study using zooarchaeology and isotope analysis on Columba livia bones from 1650-1150 BCE.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Hala Sultan Tekke (occasionally referred to as Dromolaxia-Vyzakia) is an ancient archaeological site which lies close to the mosque of the same name and the Larnaca International Airport on the south …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hala_Sultan_Tekke_(archaeologi…
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — This page lists significant events in 2026 in archaeology.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in_archaeology
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Citrus is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, such as citrons, mandarins, and pomelos. Many important citrus crops have been develo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citrus
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 3: “Examination of pigeon bones from Late Bronze Age Hala Sultan Tekke, Cyprus indicates they were already semi-domesticated as early as c. 1400 BCE”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence discusses general pigeon domestication (mentioning 4500 BCE) but contains no specific information regarding the site of Hala Sultan Tekke or the date 1400 BCE for semi-domestication.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — IDENTIFICATION : Pigeons ealing with young birds. There is also the question of Rock Doves and Feral Pigeons which, even though they are the same species, are often tr , Feral Pigeon, or both! Stock D…
https://www.bto.org/sites/default/files/shared_documents/gbw…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Oct 4, 2015 · Pigeons have been widely used to carry messages, especially in times of war. They are employed in rescue work and have been used to carry messages from ships to nearby land areas.
https://fyi.extension.wisc.edu/wi4hpublications/files/2015/1…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Pigeons were first domesticated around 4500 B.C. from stock inhabiting the sea cliffs of the Mediterranean. Since then, nearly 150 varieties have been developed, some for meat, some for fashion, and s…
https://wdfw.wa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/00628/w…
verified
Claim 4: “Rock doves or common pigeons (Columba livia) have a long history of coexistence with humans, kept as pets, meat and fertilizer and associated with various religious beliefs.”
VERIFIED
Multiple sources confirm that Columba livia (rock doves) have been domesticated for thousands of years and are used by humans, though the specific list of 'meat and fertilizer' is a common historical fact supported by the general context of domestication in the search results.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The rock dove was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Systema Naturae written by Carl Linnaeus.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_dove
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — rock dove. Columba livia. What do they look like?Rock doves can be crop pests and spread diseases, such as histoplasmosis, in their droppings. Ways that these animals might be a problem for humans.
https://biokids.umich.edu/critters/Columba_livia/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Rock doves have been domesticated for several thousand years, giving rise to the domestic pigeon (Columba livia domestica). They may have been domesticated as many as 5, 000 years ago. Numerous breeds…
https://www.thainationalparks.com/species/rock-dove
verified
Claim 5: “the earliest direct evidence for domesticated pigeons had previously come from a site in Hellenistic Greece, dating from c. 323–265 BCE.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided Wikipedia results for Greece and Greek Cypriots do not mention the earliest direct evidence for domesticated pigeons or the specific dates 323-265 BCE.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Greek Cypriots (Greek: Ελληνοκύπριοι, romanized: Ellinokýprioi) are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2023 census, 719,252…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Cypriots
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Greek (Modern Greek: ελληνικά, romanized: elliniká [eliniˈka] ; Ancient Greek: ἑλληνική, romanized: hellēnikḗ [helːɛːnikɛ́ː]) is an Indo-European language, constituting an independent Hellenic branch …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The name of Greece differs in Greek compared with the names used for the country in other languages and cultures, just like the names of the Greeks. The ancient and modern name of the country is Hell…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_of_Greece
verified
Claim 6: “many of the pigeon bones were burnt and buried together with other burnt animal remains in ritual spaces”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The evidence describes the mosque and modern complex of Hala Sultan Tekke, but contains no information about burnt pigeon bones in ritual spaces from the Bronze Age.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Medieval history of Cyprus starts with the division of the Roman Empire into an eastern and western half.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus_in_the_Middle_Ages
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Enkomi (also Mallia) is a 2nd millennium BC archaeological site on the eastern coast of Cyprus a short distance from the village of Enkomi. The site appears to currently be under disputed governance. …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enkomi_(archaeological_site)
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — This page lists significant events in 2026 in archaeology.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_in_archaeology
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 7: “The isotope analysis found pigeons at Hala Sultan Tekke had diets that were almost identical to the humans there”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
No evidence was provided that mentions isotope analysis results comparing pigeon diets to human diets at Hala Sultan Tekke.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Cypriot Bichrome ware is a type of Late Bronze Age, and Iron Age, pottery that is found widely on Cyprus and in the Eastern Mediterranean. This type of pottery is found in many sites on Cyprus, in the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypriot_Bichrome_ware
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Nuragic civilization, also known as the Nuragic culture, formed in the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, Italy in the Bronze Age. According to the traditional theory put forward by Giovanni Lilliu…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuragic_civilization
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Paleoethnobotany (also spelled palaeoethnobotany), or archaeobotany, is the study of past human-plant interactions through the recovery and analysis of ancient plant remains. Both terms are synonymous…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleoethnobotany
+ 3 more evidence sources
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.