Just Macaws: A Review for the U.S. Southwest/Mexican Northwest^†

† Dedicated to the memory of Douglas W. Schwartz, Scholar, SAR President, Facilitator, Raconteur, and Magician.

Abstract

Evidence from bones, artifacts, and imagery demonstrates the importance of scarlet macaws in Southwest/Northwest sites from around A.D. 700 to today. Archaeologists interpret these birds as indicators of exchange, ritual, and social complexity. These varied interpretations are questioned based on the life cycle of the macaw and issues with aging archaeological specimens. Ethnographic and documentary data provide comparative material for archaeological macaws. Use of macaws, their skins, and feathers reflects a widespread and apparently stable set of practices with implications for interaction, beliefs, and politics.

La evidencia obtenida de huesos, artefactos e imágenes demuestra la importancia que los guacamayos rojos tuvieron en sitios del suroeste/noroeste desde alrededor del año 700 hasta la actualidad. Los arqueólogos interpretan estas aves como indicadores de cambio, de la existencia de rituales y de complejidad social. Esta diversidad de interpretaciones es cuestionada sobre la base del ciclo de vida del guacamayo y los problemas derivados del envejecimiento de las muestras arqueológicas. Los datos etnográficos y documentales proporcionan material arqueológico comparativo sobre los guacamayos. El uso de estos guacamayos rojos, sus pieles y plumas reflejan un extenso y aparentemente estable conjunto de prácticas con implicaciones para la interacción, creencias y política.

KEYWORDS:

• Scarlet Macaw
• Feathers
• Southwest
• Mexican Northwest
• Social complexity
• Economics
• Exchange
• Cosmology

Acknowledgments

I wrote this paper at the request of the late Dr. Douglas Schwartz for his Arroyo Hondo Conversations series at the School of Advanced Research. Initially focused on the three macaws from Arroyo Hondo, the research took me in directions neither Doug nor I anticipated. My thanks to Doug for placing his birds in my hands and sending me on this unusual journey. While he provided comments at the conversation held in March 2016, I wish he had lived to see the final work that he inspired. Thanks also to the other conversation participants who provided wonderful feedback on an earlier version of this paper: Eric Blinman, Richard Ford, Stephen Post, Polly and Curt Schaafsma, Jay Shapiro, John Ware, and Chip Wills. I benefited greatly from discussions with Chip Wills, Emily Jones, Jonathan Dombrosky, Mindy Zeder, parrot owner Lisa Anderson of the National Museum of the American Indian, and Christy Herbst of Birdie Brains Aviary. Jacque Kocer translated the abstract into Spanish. Kelley Hays-Gilpin and two anonymous reviewers provided excellent comments on an earlier version of the paper.

Notes

† Dedicated to the memory of Douglas W. Schwartz, Scholar, SAR President, Facilitator, Raconteur, and Magician.