Polly *really* wanna cracker. Or a glass of water. Anything, really.
This skull of a scarlet macaw (Ara macao) was excavated from Pueblo Bonito in New Mexico by researchers from the American Museum of Natural History in 1897. © AMNH/D. Finnin
Posted on 06/23/2015 11:56:23 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
New work on the skeletal remains of scarlet macaws found in an ancient Pueblo settlement indicates that social and political hierarchies may have emerged in the American Southwest earlier than previously thought. Researchers determined that the macaws, whose brilliant red and blue feathers are highly prized in Pueblo culture, were persistently traded hundreds of miles north from Mesoamerica starting in the early 10th century, at least 150 years before the origin of hierarchy is usually attributed. The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest that the acquisition and control of macaws, along with other valued items like chocolate and turquoise, may have facilitated the development of hierarchy in the society...
...It was traditionally thought that the Pueblo people did not bring these items back to the settlement until AD 1040, the start of an era of rapid architectural expansion called the Chaco florescence. But new radiocarbon dating of artifacts discovered in the settlement is changing that view... But in 2010, radiocarbon dating led by Plog showed that the two burials happened no later than AD 775-875...
Direct radiocarbon dating of macaw skeletons found that 12 of the 14 sampled macaws predate the Chaco florescence, with about half of them dating to the late 800s and mid-900s. The acquisition of these birds would have been a formidable task, requiring the removal of fledglings from the nest soon after their birth before traveling between 1,800 and 2,500 kilometers (about 1,120-1,550 miles) on foot back to Chaco...
Other authors on the paper include: Douglas Kennett and Brendan Culleton, The Pennsylvania State University; Patricia Gilman, University of Oklahoma; Steven LeBlanc, Harvard University; and Santiago Claramunt, American Museum of Natural History.
(Excerpt) Read more at amnh.org ...
This skull of a scarlet macaw (Ara macao) was excavated from Pueblo Bonito in New Mexico by researchers from the American Museum of Natural History in 1897. © AMNH/D. Finnin
I guess they didn’t have to contend with PETA back then.
Thanks for all you do, SunkenCiv, finding these articles and posting them on FR.
Sometimes the news and politics we hear about are so bad, I think your posts are the only sane areas on the board!
Thanks! Of course, some of the time, that's not that hard. ;')
Pita either. Probably deep-fried it after dipping it in corn batter.
What would clinch the find would be the presence of bite marks on fossilized human fingers!
Or a perch.
the rest of the Anasazi keyword, sorted:
The Monkeys and Parrots Caught Up in the California Gold Rush
Researchers combed through 19th-century records and found evidence of the species, which joined a menagerie that included Galapagos tortoises and kangaroos
Bridget Alex
Contributing Writer
June 16, 2022
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-monkeys-and-parrots-caught-up-in-the-california-gold-rush-180980236/
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