Mummified Parrots and Mucaws With Beaks Open, Tongues Out Puzzles Anthropologists

Ancient Americans brought exotic birds to the Andes and mummified them with their mouths open, anthropologists in Chile revealed.

Such birds as macaws and parrots are rare if not non-existent in arid environments, such as the Atacama desert, but researchers discovered feathers and mummified remains of the birds as they explored archaeological sites in the region.

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In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, researchers reported that parrots were mummified after their demise, with some having their mouths open and tongues protruding. Other mummified birds had their wings spread as if they were flying.

Mummified Birds Remain a Mystery

Anthropologists could not determine the reason behind the practice, but they speculate that such is connected to their ability to imitate human speech. They said the birds had been disemboweled through their cloaca-an excretory and reproductive opening-and this helped in mummifying them. They said they were also wrapped in textiles or bags.

Researchers visited Chilean museums to do comprehensive studies for three years on the macaw and parrot remains. Using zooarchaeological analysis, ancient DNA analysis, radiocarbon dating, and isotopic dietary reconstruction, they pieced together a picture of what these birds' lives might have been.

(Photo : Calogero Santoro, Universidad de Tarapacá and José Capriles, Penn State) Mummified scarlet macaw recovered from Pica 8 in northern Chile.

The anthropologists studied 27 full or partial remains of Amazon parrots and scarlet macaws from Atacama oasis sites. Many of the bird remains, however, were salvage finds and not through formal archaeological studies. As such, some precious data have been left out. But the birds are generally associated with human burials; the researchers pointed out.

These researchers discovered that between the years 1100 and 1450 CE, the birds were transported from the Amazon to the Atacama, covering a distance of 300 miles, and brought to an oasis site in the Andes. During this period, commerce was bustling with a rising number of llama caravans traveling between specific locations in the Andes.

They were amazed at how the birds reached the more than 10,000-foot high Andes, which meant they were carried alive across difficult terrain and cold weather.

The birds' arrival preceded the Inca Empire and the Spanish rule in the region, wherein horses had since been used.

The fact that the birds were carried across the Andes using llamas also left researchers astonished. Llamas, which are not backpack animals, are not that strong to endure the arduous trip.

Birds' Feathers Used For High-Status Burials

Upon their arrival at the Atacama, their owners used the birds as pets and plucked their feathers for their headdresses. They were also fed the same food the owners ate, however, their relationship was seen as complicated.

These feathers, anthropologists said, are valued across the Americas, being used in high-status burials.

Researchers said that some of the birds did not live happily with their owners, unlike pets today. They were merely kept for their feathers, which were plucked as they matured. The study in the region, they added, will continue to find out more about the birds and how they were used.