Ritual Deposition of Avifauna in the Northern Burial Cluster at Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon

Abstract

Birds play an important role in modern and historic Puebloan ceremonialism, with feathers, wings, stuffed birds, and live birds used for ceremonies, sacrifices, and creation of ritual paraphernalia. Archaeological evidence suggests birds played an ideological and ritual role for some prehispanic Southwestern groups as well. Here, we explore the use of avian remains for ritual purposes at Pueblo Bonito by presenting new evidence from the northern burial cluster. Drawing on multiple quantitative measures, we establish the dissimilarity of this assemblage to other Chacoan sites. We demonstrate that an unusually wide variety of avian species was deposited in the northern burial cluster, particularly wing elements that may reflect wing fan deposition. These findings improve our understanding of ritual life at Pueblo Bonito and also show the utility of using both qualitative and quantitative data to create a more accurate understanding of past ceremonial activity.