The Macaw from Cueva de Avendaños, Chihuahua

Summary

At the beginning of 2016, a EAHNM archaeologist performed a rescue project in the Cueva de Avendaños, municipality of San Francisco de Borja, Chihuahua, as a result of a complaint. There, the land owner decided to level the cave surface with a bulldozer not knowing that an archaeological site lay beneath. The result was the destruction of a pre-Hispanic funerary context which included the remains of at least three mummified individuals accompanied by textiles, basketry, string, leather, shell and a mummified military macaw. Unfortunately, only the head of the macaw was preserved. This presentation will focus on the macaw remains and the importance of this animal in the prehispanic world, especially because is the first evidence of this species outside the site of Paquimé in northwest Mexico.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• In the Mother's Womb: Archaeological Research in Caves

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14748