What is this bird? The quest to identify parrot remains from the Heyward-Washington House, Charleston, South Carolina

• Published in: Southeastern archaeology Vol. 38; no. 3; pp. 240 - 250
• Main Authors: Zierden, Martha A., Reitz, Elizabeth J., Pavao-Zuckerman, Barnet, Reitsema, Laurie J., Manzano, Bruce L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 02.09.2019
• Subjects: Amazon parrot; pets; social identity; trade networks; urban environments
• ISSN: 0734-578X; 2168-4723
• DOI: 10.1080/0734578X.2018.1555407

Excavations in the 1970s at the ca. 1772 Heyward-Washington House in Charleston, South Carolina, produced a rich and diverse archaeological assemblage spanning the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Among the vertebrate remains are four bones from a large member of the parrot family. We now believe the bird was a blue-fronted or turquoise-fronted amazon parrot (Psittacidae: Amazona aestiva), an animal originating in South America. Over the decades, we have studied the zooarchaeological signature of social identity in Charleston, the evolving urban environment, and the vast trade networks of the colonial port city, all of which are embodied in the remains of this single bird. The parrot leads to a discussion of social roles of captive birds in early Charleston, the eclectic interests of city residents, and the city's global trade networks.