HUANCHACO, PERU—The Andina News Agency reports that excavations in Pampa La Cruz have unearthed the burial of a Chimú individual whose body was placed in a squatting position and covered with a tabard, a garment similar to a poncho, made of red and yellow feathers. A headdress made of blue, white, green, black, and yellow feathers was also found in the grave. “We need to conduct studies to identify the type of birds from which such feathers were taken and the manufacturing technique,” said archaeologist Gabriel Prieto of the University of Florida, who believes a black resin was used to fasten the headdress' ropes and threads. A similar burial containing a feathered garment featuring mostly blue feathers was uncovered in another area of the site last year, he added. To read about macaws seemingly raised for their feathers by the Puebloan people of the American Southwest, go to "Angry Birds."
