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Prehistoric Macaws and Parrots in the Mimbres Area, New Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Darrell Creel  and
Charmion McKusick
Darrell Creel
Affiliation:
Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1100
Charmion McKusick
Affiliation:
Southwest Bird Laboratory, Route 1, Box 35-D, Globe, AZ 85501
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Abstract

Macaws and parrots were important birds in prehistoric Mimbres-area communities by A.D. 1000. Scarlet macaws (Ara macao) apparently were imported into the area from the tropical lowlands in Mexico, but one other species each of macaw (Ara militaris) and parrot (Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha) probably could have been obtained from much closer natural ranges. Macaws in particular evidently were of special, perhaps ceremonial, importance as indicated by consistent age at death, probably reflecting sacrifice in the spring, and by deliberate intramural burial, often in special rooms in the community. The sacrificing of macaws and the season in which it occurred were consistent in Mimbres and contemporaneous sites and began a pattern that continued in the Southwest perhaps until historic times.

Resumen

Resumen

Guacamayos y lows eran pájaros importantes en comunidades prehistóricas del área de Mimbres hacia 1000 D.C. Aparentemente se importó guacamayos (Ara macao) desde las tierras bajas tropicales en México, pero otra especie de guacamayo (Ara militaris) y otra de low (Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha) podrían haberse conseguido en nichos ecológicos más cercanos. Guacamayos en particular evidentemente tuvieron importancia especial, quizás ceremonial, como se indica por sus edades consistentes al morir, probablemente reflejando sacrificio en la primavera, y por su entierro intramuros intencional, frecuentemente en cuartos especiales en la comunidad. El sacrificio de guacamayos y la estación en que sucedió eran consistentes en Mimbres y sitios contemporáneos y empezó un patrón que continuó en el sudoeste quizás hasta tiempos históricos.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 59 , Issue 3 , July 1994 , pp. 510 - 524
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1994

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