Precolumbian Transregional Captive Rearing of Amazonian Parrots in the Atacama Desert

The feathers of tropical birds were one of the most significant symbols of economic, social, and political status in the pre-Columbian Americas. In the Andes, finely produced clothing and textiles containing multicolored feathers of tropical parrots materialized power, prestige, distinction, and were particularly appreciated by political and religious elites. Here, we report 27 complete or partial remains of macaws and amazon parrots from five archaeological sites in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile to improve our understanding of their taxonomic identity, chronology, cultural context, and mechanisms of acquisition. We conducted a mutiproxy archaeometric study that included zooarchaeological analysis, carbon and nitrogen stable isotopic dietary reconstruction, AMS radiocarbon dating, and paleogenomic analysis. The results reveal that during the Late Intermediate Period (1150-1450 CE) people in this region acquired Scarlet Macaws (Ara macao) and at least five additional tropical parrot species through vast exchange networks that extended over 500 km towards the Amazonian tropical lowlands. Stable isotopes indicate that Atacama aviculturalists sustained these birds on diets rich in marine-bird-guano-fertilized maize-based foods. The captive rearing of these colorful, exotic, and charismatic birds served to unambiguously signal relational wealth in a context of emergent intercommunity competition.

在哥伦布发现美洲前的美洲地区，热带鸟类羽毛是经济、社会与政治地位的核心象征之一。在安第斯山脉区域，精工制作的服饰及镶嵌热带鹦鹉彩色羽毛的纺织品，承载着权力、声望与身份标识，尤为政治与宗教精英所推崇。本研究从智利北部阿塔卡马沙漠的5处考古遗址中，获取了27件金刚鹦鹉与亚马逊鹦鹉的完整或部分遗骸，以期深化对其分类学归属、年代学背景、文化脉络及获取机制的认知。我们开展了多指标考古学研究，涵盖动物考古学分析、碳与氮稳定同位素饮食结构重建、加速器质谱（AMS）放射性碳定年以及古基因组分析。研究结果显示，在晚期中间期（公元1150-1450年），该区域人群通过延伸至亚马逊热带低地、跨度超500公里的大型交换网络，获取了绯红金刚鹦鹉（Ara macao）及至少5种其他热带鹦鹉物种。稳定同位素分析表明，阿塔卡马地区的养鸟人以富含海鸟鸟粪肥育的玉米基食物饲喂这些鹦鹉。在社群间竞争渐趋激烈的背景下，饲养这些色彩艳丽、极具异域魅力的标志性鸟类，可明确彰显其关系型财富。