[Aztlan] Scarlet Macaw trade at Paquime

[michael ruggeri]

Listeros,

In a follow up study on the breeding of macaws at Paquime for trade  
purposes from 1200-1450 CE, a new analysis of bones of pre-historic  
macaws at the site appears to show that the people of Paquime raised  
most of the macaw birds themselves and did not import the great  
majority of the birds from the tropics. Feathers were harvested for  
ceremonial garb and for trade with the Southwest. Measurements of  
carbon and oxygen isotopes in scarlet macaws at Paquime indicate the  
birds ate mostly maize which they did not eat in the tropics. The new  
research shows that Paquime residents developed macaw breeding  
technology without the need for a close connection to the rest of  
Mesoamerica. The bones of 322 scarlet macaws, 181 macaws of other  
species and feces of macaws in 56 adobe cages were included in this  
new study. Not only did these birds not have a history of eating  
tropical foods but only one of the birds studied drank water from a  
place other than Paquime.
There is some question as to whether juvenile birds may have been  
transported in large numbers and then fed maize and water from Paquime  
changing the measurements.

Science News has the report here;
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/49308/title/Macaws_bred_far_from_tropics_during_pre-Columbian_times

A tiny URL;
http://fwd4.me/3I8

Mike Ruggeri

There are more reports on the scarlet macaw trade on my web page below;

Mike Ruggeri's The Casas Grandes World and the Turquoise Road
http://tinyurl.com/62wp8z