BIRDS IN ROCK ART - PARROTS:

Parrot and mask, West Mesa, Albuquerque,

NM, Photo: Peter Faris, 1988. 

On December 15, 2010, I posted a column about petroglyphs of macaws at Hovenweep National Monument. In it I discussed them as indications of long distance trade networks between the cultures of the American Southwest and Meso-America in ancient times. I also discussed the value of their brightly colored feathers to the ancient inhabitants of the southwest. Although most of the recorded data concerning the presence of these birds comes from Mimbres and Hohokam sites, pictures of these birds in other locations (like Hovenweep) testify to their equal importance in the Ancestral Puebloan peoples of the Four-Corners area.

Parrots, star, and eagle tail headdress. Petroglyph Nat.

Mon., Albuquerque, NM. Photo: Peter Faris, 1988.

Another area with parrots or macaws pictured as petroglyphs on the rocks comes from the Petroglyph National Monument on West Mesa at Albuquerque, New Mexico. The photographs of parrot petroglyphs accompanying this posting were taken there in 1988.

Close-up of parrots, and eagle tail headdress. Petroglyph

Nat. Mon., Albuquerque, NM. Photo: Peter Faris, 1988.

Both photos include a 6” scale to give an indication of the size of the images. The first picture shows a single parrot in side view along with what I believe is intended to represent a mask. The second picture is of a pair of parrots pictured belly to belly facing each other. This second portrayal is on a boulder with other sky themes including a four-pointed star and another mask surmounted by an eagle tail fan. As can be seen the facial area of the mask is below the surface of the ground and there may be more unseen rock art down there as well.