Christopher Schwartz

Scarlet macaws are native to tropical forests ranging from the Gulf Coast and southern regions of Mexico to Bolivia, but they are present at numerous archaeological sites in the U.S. Southwest and Mexican Northwest. Although these birds have been noted and marveled at through the decades, new syntheses of early excavations, new analytical methods, and new approaches to understanding the past now allow us to explore the significance and distribution of scarlet macaws to a degree that was previously impossible.

Birds of the Sun explores the many aspects of macaws, especially scarlet macaws, that have made them important to Native peoples living in this region for thousands of years. Leading experts discuss the significance of these birds, including perspectives from a Zuni author, a cultural anthropologist specializing in historic Pueblo societies, and archaeologists who have studied pre-Hispanic societies in Mesoamerica and the U.S. Southwest and Mexican Northwest. Chapters examine the highly variable distribution and frequency of macaws in the past, their presence on rock art and kiva murals, the human experience of living with and transporting macaws, macaw biology and life history, and what skeletal remains suggest about the health of macaws in the past. Experts provide an extensive, region-by-region analysis, from early to late periods, of what we know about the presence, health, and depositional contexts of macaws and parrots, with specific case studies from the Hohokam, Chaco, Mimbres, Mogollon Highlands, Northern Sinagua, and Casas Grandes regions, where these birds are most abundant.

The expertise offered in this stunning new volume, which includes eight full color pages, will lay the groundwork for future research for years to come.

In the US Southwest and Northwest Mexico, people and turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) have had a reciprocal relationship for millennia; turkeys supplied feathers, meat, and other resources, whereas people provided food, shelter, and care. To investigate how turkeys fit within subsistence, economic production, sociopolitical organization, and religious and ritual practice in the Mimbres Valley of southwestern New Mexico, we report on genetic (mtDNA) and stable isotope (δ 13 C, δ 15 N) data from turkeys recovered from Mimbres Classic period (AD 1000-1130) sites. Results indicate that Mimbres aviculturists had haplogroup H1 and H2 turkeys, and most ate maize-based diets similar to humans, but some ate nonmaize and mixed diets. We contextualize these data to other turkey studies from the northern Southwest and discuss how the human-turkey relationship began, the evidence for pens and restricting turkey movement, and the socioecological factors related to turkey management during the Classic period, particularly the challenges associated with providing maize to turkeys during times of environmental stress. This study has broad relevance to places where people managed wild, tame, and domestic animals, and we offer new insights into how prehispanic, small-scale, middle-range agricultural societies managed turkeys for ritual and utilitarian purposes.

The occurrence of nonlocal objects, raw materials, and ideas in the southwestern United States (U.S. SW) has long been recognized as evidence of interaction between prehispanic peoples of this region and those of greater Mesoamerica. Although many archaeologists have analyzed the directionality and potential means by which these objects and concepts moved across the landscape, few have assessed the degree to which Mesoamerican practices and traditional assemblages remained intact as the artifacts and ideas moved farther from their places of origin. The current study analyzes the distribution and deposition of blue-green stone mosaics, a craft technology that was well established in Mesoamerica by the Late Preclassic period (300 BC-AD 250) and spread to the U.S. SW by the start of the Hohokam Pioneer period (AD 475). We assess the spatial distribution, contextual deposition, and morphology of mosaics at sites within Hohokam Canal System 2, located in the Phoenix Basin of Arizona. We use these data to infer mosaics' social value and function within Hohokam social structure. Analyses suggest that, although the technology of mosaic making may have originated in Mesoamerica, the contexts and ways in which mosaics were used in the Hohokam regional system were decidedly Hohokam.

The pre-Hispanic settlement of Paquime (1150/1200–1450 CE) in northwestern Chihuahua exhibits extensive evidence of exchange connections with distant communities, including the remains of over 300 scarlet macaws (Ara macao), brilliantly plumed birds whose geographic origins lie at least 1000 km southeast in the humid lowlands of Mexico. Archaeological and historic records indicate that these birds were prized for their many cosmological associations, the multi-colored feathers which were widely traded and used in ceremonial attire, and their ability to mimic human speech. We use archaeological and isotopic investigations to infer the diet and geographic origin(s) of Paquime’s scarlet macaw population. We examine 29 scarlet macaw bone samples from Paquime using radiogenic strontium isotope analysis. Our results demonstrate that Paquime’s scarlet macaw population was primarily raised locally, though Paquime’s inhabitants also acquired scarlet macaws from nearby Casas Grandes region settlements in Chihuahua and extra-regional locales that may have been as far away as their endemic homeland in Veracruz in eastern Mexico. Ultimately, our findings indicate that macaw aviculture at Paquime was complex and not congruent with any single previously proposed model.

Full referenceL

Baller, Kendall, Marcus Lorang, Christopher Schwartz, and Christopher Morehart
2020 Analysis of Archaebotanical Samples from Cuychen. In The Realm Below: Speleological Investigations in the Macal River Valley, Belize, edited by Christophe Helmke, pp. 195-206. Precolumbia Mesoweb Press

Recent research in social zooarchaeology has demonstrated the diverse, reciprocal nature of relationships between animals and humans in the past. Despite growing interest in avifaunal remains from archaeological contexts, birds are often understudied and undervalued compared to other classes of fauna. Birds played particularly multifaceted roles in many realms of prehistoric life. Human interaction with birds has been driven by concerns for subsistence and cuisine, economic production and trade, political legitimization and social status, decorative and artistic pursuits, and religion, ideology, and ritual practice; analysis of their remains and archaeological contexts can inform the study of almost every traditional aspect of archaeological research. The outcomes and implications of these interactions, including extinction and extirpation, effects on the environment and local bird populations, and changes in biogeography over time, extends the relevance of avifaunal studies beyond the archaeological spectrum to other social and natural sciences. The papers in this session demonstrate the wide range of research topics that avifaunal analysis can address, and the diverse ways in which birds were involved in prehistoric life. The breadth of this research demonstrates the great explanatory potential of the study of avifaunal remains and the relevance of these inquiries to a social zooarchaeology.

The vast region of northwestern Mexico and the American Southwest is a rich and dynamic zone of both ancient and contemporary indigenous cultures. Its diversity in terms of both complexity and material culture have rendered it an especially fruitful region for addressing a range of pertinent anthropological issues, including social complexity, connectivity, and identity. For nearly four decades, Ben A. Nelson has dedicated his expertise to this region and its compelling issues, and has likewise encouraged generations of archaeologists in the careful study of ancient sites and landscapes both within the region and beyond. In this symposium, students and colleagues share their archaeological contributions in tribute to Dr. Ben Nelson’s broad influence and benevolent guidance as an archaeologist and mentor.

La vasta región que abarca el noroeste de México y el suroeste de los Estados Unidos es una zona rica y dinámica de culturas indígenas antiguas y actuales. Su diversidad en términos de la complejidad y la cultura material la hace una región fructífera para abordar una amplia gama de cuestiones antropológicos oportunos, incluyendo la complejidad, la conectividad, y la identidad social. A lo largo de casi cuatro décadas, Ben A. Nelson ha dedicado su conocimiento y especialización a esta región y a sus apasionantes temas, asimismo ha alentado a generaciones de arqueólogos en el estudio detallado de los sitios y paisajes antiguos tanto dentro de la región como fuera de ésta. En este simposio, los estudiantes y colegas comparten sus aportaciones arqueológicas en homenaje a Dr. Ben Nelson y a su gran influencia y orientación benevolente como arqueólogo y mentor.