The Ritual Importance of Birds in 14th-century Central New Mexico

Abstract

The Pueblo IV period (AD 1300–1450/1500) in the American Southwest witnessed the development of a number of new ritual systems in both the Western and Eastern Pueblo areas. Although associated with a diverse array of material culture, one of the most prominent aspects of these religious ideologies was the adoption of a complex of icons focusing on fertility, weather control, and community well being. Key among these motifs were birds, which appear to have played a central role in the materialization of these new ideological systems. In this paper, we evaluate the changing importance of avifauna in the ritual systems that were adopted in the 14th century in the Lower Rio Puerco area of New Mexico. Relying on ceramic, architectural, and faunal data from Pottery Mound (LA 416) and Hummingbird Pueblo (LA 578), we argue that both the imagery and use of birds in ritual contexts increased substantially at the two villages during the 14th century. These developments correspond to a new religious ideology that served to integrate the diverse populations that had aggregated in the Lower Rio Puerco area in the late 1200s.

Qualia in late precolonial Pueblo rock art: An exploration of conventionalized sensorial experience in Rio Grande Style petroglyphs

“…Birds were important in Ancestral Pueblo society and had multiple meanings, depending on the setting. Avian remains appear in specialized archaeological and historic contexts—they figure prominently on 14th- and 15th-century kiva murals; feathers commonly adorn ritual regalia and paraphernalia, altars, and fetishes; and feathers, bone items, talons, and entire bird burials are found in ritual offerings across the region (e.g., Ainsworth et al, 2018; Eckert and Clark, 2009; Mattson and Jones, 2020). Among the Pueblos, feathers and birds are variously associated with the sun, lightness, wind, specific cardinal directions, rainbows, lightning, clouds, and warfare (Tyler, 1991).…”

“…Among the Pueblos, feathers and birds are variously associated with the sun, lightness, wind, specific cardinal directions, rainbows, lightning, clouds, and warfare (Tyler, 1991). Macaw and eagle feathers appear to be particularly valued, the former for their brilliant colors associated with ‘the bright sun and his rays’ (Tyler, 1991: 14) and the latter for their association with strength, power, protection, and the zenith/above (Eckert and Clark, 2009; Parsons, 1939).…”

The Snow-Capped Mountain and the Uranium Mine

“…The proposed mine is an offense to the Zuni because they specifically pray for the well-being of many animals and also because they depend on these animals for their own spiritual welfare. Insects, birds, animals-every living thing is referenced by the medicine societies (see Eckert and Clark 2009;Ladd 1963).…”