Ancient Macaw, Baby Remains Found in Mexico Cave Rossella Lorenzi - Seeker
go to original September 9, 2016

Archaeologists digging in a Mexican cave have made a creepy discovery. In the back of the cave they found two bone legs tied with a rope, the remains of a baby who was originally put to rest on a rabbit skin, two skulls and the naturally mummified head of a juvenile macaw.

The eerie finding was made in a cave near San Francisco de Borja, a town in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. Locals who owned the cave were leveling its floor when they stumbled upon the mummified bird and other archaeological material.

The villagers alerted the archaeologists of the National Institute of Anthropology and History who collected two human skulls and bones, parts of mummified human bodies, deer leather remains - possibly from clothing or bags - textile, baskets and one big sea shell.

"The locals told us the macaw was complete, unfortunately the rest of the body was taken away by the earth-moving machine and we could not find it," archaeologist Emiliano Gallaga Murrieta, director of the School of Anthropology and History Northern Mexico, told Discovery News.

"We assume the villagers hit upon a funerary context. It is possible that the macaw was part of the burial offering and is probable that was a pet of at least one of the two individuals," he added.

Since no ceramic from the Middle period of Paquimé (1.060 to 1.340 AD) was found, Gallaga believes the cave is a transition site between the obscure archaic and the early agriculture period, some 3,000 years ago.

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Photo: Emiliano Gallaga Murrieta

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