FIGURE 4 in Validity of Bartram's Painted Vulture (Aves: Cathartidae)

FIGURE 4. As reproduced from a photograph in Knight (1996), a limestone bowl recovered from the Moundville prehistoric site in central Alabama in 1906 has a handle resembling the head and neck of a King Vulture (or Painted Vulture), as suggested by Witmer Stone. A projection from the bird's forehead could represent the lappets of this species. Although somewhat posterior to the usual position of these structures, this projection might have been more extensive and extended farther forward in the original bowl. Alternatively, and perhaps more likely, the projection could have been a representation of the forehead snood of a Wild Turkey, as suggested by Steponaitis and Knight (2004). Supporting this interpretation is the existence of an incised worm-like structure on the underside of the bowl resembling the feathered beard of a Wild Turkey.