Current Research on Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) Domestication, Husbandry and Management in North America and Beyond

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Current Research on Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) Domestication, Husbandry and Management in North America and Beyond," at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Recent turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) based archaeological studies highlight the diversity and complexity of domestication, as well as turkey husbandry and management strategies by peoples living in pre-contact North America. Turkeys appear in a variety of socioeconomic contexts as playing a significant role in past societies in Mesoamerica, the American Southwest/Mexican Northwest, the Southeast/Northeast United States, Southern Canada, and after contact, in Europe. In this session, papers discuss recent and ongoing turkey research from throughout North America and Europe. We aim to better establish a current overview of what we know and what we do not know about past human-turkey interactions.

Other Keywords
Zooarchaeology • Subsistence and Foodways: Domestication • Ancestral Pueblo • Pueblo • ancient DNA • Ethnohistory/History • Domestication • Paleopathology • Plains Archaeology • Feathers

Geographic Keywords
North America (Continent) • United States of America (Country) • USA (Country) • New Mexico (State / Territory) • Oklahoma (State / Territory) • Arizona (State / Territory) • Texas (State / Territory) • Sonora (State / Territory) • Chihuahua (State / Territory) • Colorado (State / Territory)

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-14 of 14)

  • Documents (14)
Documents
  • Ancestral Pueblo Turkey Management on the Pajarito Plateau (C.E. 1150-1600) (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Cyler Conrad. Sandi Copeland.

    This is an abstract from the "Current Research on Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) Domestication, Husbandry and Management in North America and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In this paper we use bone apatite and collagen stable isotope analysis to examine long-term Ancestral Pueblo turkey management strategies on the Pajarito Plateau in the northern Rio Grande of New Mexico. Since previous preliminary research within this region identified...

  • Determining Regional Hunting Patterns and Possible Domestication of Turkeys in the Mesa Verde area of the American Southwest (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Amanda Werlein. Joan Coltrain. Jeffrey Ferguson. Virginie Renson. Karen Schollmeyer.

    This is an abstract from the "Current Research on Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) Domestication, Husbandry and Management in North America and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Strontium and oxygen analyses of archaeological bone samples are frequently used to map human mobility. In this work, these isotopic signatures are analyzed to investigate archaeofaunal material dating to 750-1280 AD in the Mesa Verde area to determine the origins of...

  • Evaluating Turkey Wellness and Treatment in the Maya World (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Randee Fladeboe. Kitty Emery. Erin Thornton. Lori Phillips.

    This is an abstract from the "Current Research on Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) Domestication, Husbandry and Management in North America and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. As the primary domesticated animal in prehistoric Mesoamerica, the turkey occupied a prominent and multivalent role in society, as a food source, a feather provider, and a subject of ritual sacrifice. The preponderance of turkey remains across the archaeological record of...

  • Examining Turkey Husbandry in the Northern Southwest Using Legacy Museum Collections (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Blythe Morrison.

    This is an abstract from the "Current Research on Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) Domestication, Husbandry and Management in North America and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In this paper, I examine some of the details of turkey husbandry by analyzing avian remains and associated material culture, including feathers and cordage. The North American turkey (Meleagris gallopavo spp.) has had a significant and enduring presence in many of the...

  • Exploring Turkey Exploitation and Management in the Maya Lowlands (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Camilla Speller. Erin Thornton. Aurélie Manin. Kitty Emery.

    This is an abstract from the "Current Research on Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) Domestication, Husbandry and Management in North America and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. As one of the few intensively managed species in Mesoamerica, the turkey plays a key role in understanding cultural interactions and subsistence, particularly in the Mayan lowlands. Two populations of turkeys were exploited in this region: the local, wild ocellated turkey...

  • Fox Farm, a Large Fort Ancient Village in Mason County, Kentucky: Evidence of Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) Management? (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Bruce Manzano. David Pollack. Gwynn Henderson. Andrea Erhardt. Jordon Munizzi.

    This is an abstract from the "Current Research on Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) Domestication, Husbandry and Management in North America and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Investigations of wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) remains from archaeological sites in Central America and the American Southwest have generated new data about the management and domestication of this species. We applied the methods used in those studies to our analysis...

  • From North America to Europe: Preliminary Biomolecular results Regarding the Transatlantic History of the Turkey (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Aurelie Manin. Camilla Speller. Michelle Alexander.

    This is an abstract from the "Current Research on Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) Domestication, Husbandry and Management in North America and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. While there is a growing body of studies on turkey domestication and use in North America, many questions remain unanswered regarding its introduction to Europe and its subsequent breeding. Which populations of turkeys were imported in Europe and when? How fast did they...

  • How Many Turkeys Did It Take to Make a Blanket? (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only William Lipe. Shannon Tushingham. Eric Blinman. Chuck LaRue. Laurie Webster.

    This is an abstract from the "Current Research on Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) Domestication, Husbandry and Management in North America and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. For a thousand years, turkey feather blankets were a standard part of Ancestral Pueblo material culture in the Central Mesa Verde (CMV) area. Investigating the "supply side" of blanket-making includes comparing the number of feathers needed for a blanket with the number...

  • Investigating Turkey Husbandry on the Chacoan Frontier: Stable Isotope Results from Three Pueblo II Great House Communities in West Central New Mexico (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Brandon McIntosh. Andrew Duff.

    This is an abstract from the "Current Research on Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) Domestication, Husbandry and Management in North America and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Growing research in animal domestication in the prehistoric western hemisphere has revealed a complex relationship between humans and the only originally domesticated animal in North America, the turkey (Meleagris gallopavo). Research suggests reasons for turkey...

  • Paquimé in Perspective: A Meta-Analysis of Turkey Remains from the US Southwest and Northern Mexico (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Caitlin Ainsworth.

    This is an abstract from the "Current Research on Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) Domestication, Husbandry and Management in North America and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Excavations at the site of Paquimé in Northern Mexico, uncovered the interred remains of hundreds of common turkeys. Given both the size and unusual nature of this assemblage, studies of the Paquimé turkeys seem well suited to furthering our understanding of...

  • Persistence in Turkey Husbandry Practices in the Southwest and Four Corners Region: The isotopic and ethnohistorical evidence (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Catherine Mendel. Deanna Grimstead. Joan Coltrain. Harlan McCaffery. Tiffany Rawlings.

    This is an abstract from the "Current Research on Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) Domestication, Husbandry and Management in North America and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. aDNA analysis reveals an independent domestication event of Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) occurred in the Southwestern United States between 200 BC—AD 500. While this event was distinct from the domestication of turkey within the Mesoamerican world approximately 2000 years...

  • Raising a Rafter: Networks and Ancestral Pueblo Intensification of Turkey Husbandry in the Northern Rio Grande Region, New Mexico (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Rachel Burger. Ian Jorgeson. Michael Aiuvalasit.

    This is an abstract from the "Current Research on Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) Domestication, Husbandry and Management in North America and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Zooarchaeological research in the Northern Rio Grande shows that turkey husbandry became increasingly important to the Ancestral Pueblo during the Classic Period (AD 1350-1600). During this time, immigrant and local communities coalesced into increasingly larger villages...

  • There and Back Again: A Foragers-Farmers Model of Turkey Domestication (Part I) (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Daniel Peart. Deanna N. Grimstead. Catherine E. Mendel.

    This is an abstract from the "Current Research on Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) Domestication, Husbandry and Management in North America and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The human-domesticate relationship has long been a focus of archaeologists, and advances in archaeological science have revealed the dynamics of husbandry practices. But why domesticate? Evolutionary ecology suggests expanding human populations, depressed habitats, and...

  • Were Turkeys Domesticated by Prehistoric Farmers in Oklahoma? (2019)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Mary Faith Flores. Brian M. Kemp. Marc Levine.

    This is an abstract from the "Current Research on Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) Domestication, Husbandry and Management in North America and Beyond" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) were domesticated by Basketmaker peoples in the American Southwest and independently by prehispanic Mesoamerican groups, yet relatively little is known about the nature and origin of ancient Oklahoma turkeys. In this project, we analyze...