Caption Tarsometatarsi (bone of the lower leg) of birds from the Göbekli Tepe site (from top to bottom): Eurasian jackdaw (Coloeus monedula), hooded crow (Corvus cornix), small duck (Anas crecca ...

And while the bones were large for bird tarsometatarsi, they were still only about the size of an adult human thumb. However, these isolated bones proved to be a treasure trove of information.