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.
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