mike 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/gene...olumbian_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