Bones of Chaco Canyon’s Imported Parrots Reexamined

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO—Phys.org reports that a reexamination of more than 2,400 parrot bones unearthed at Chaco Canyon suggests that most of the macaws and parrots that were kept by ancient Puebloans were likely restricted to the large, multistory buildings known as great houses, where they lived in heated rooms with plastered walls. Katelyn Bishop of the University of Illinois determined that 42 of these 45 birds were macaws, while the other three were thick-billed parrots. These bird remains were last examined more than 50 years ago. The remains of four of the macaws and all three of the thick-billed parrots are now missing. Analysis of the remaining bird remains showed that they had been acquired over a 250-year period, and ranged in age from about one year to more than 25 years old at the time of death. No signs of butchering were detected on any of the bird bones. “With regard to the macaws specifically, I think a better understanding of skeletal pathology is needed,” Bishop said. “There are a number of pathological markers on macaw remains, but our understanding of the cause of some of these pathologies is lacking,” she explained. “I think there is a great deal of evidence for the many ways that these birds were cared for, provided for, and valued,” she concluded. Read the original scholarly article about this research in KIVA. For more, go to "Early Parrots in the Southwest."