Persistence in Turkey Husbandry Practices in the Southwest and Four Corners Region: The Isotopic and Ethnohistorical Evidence

Summary

Research has demonstrated an independent domestication event of Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) occurred in the Southwestern USA between 200 BC—AD 500, which was separate from the domestication of turkey within the Mesoamerican world. While aDNA analyses revealed this as a separate and distinct event, we still know little about how turkey husbandry was practiced in the prehistoric Southwest, USA, Northwest, Mexico, and Four Corners regions. Our research applies carbon and nitrogen isotopes to a sample of archaeological turkey bones from Tohatchi Flats, New Mexico, USA. We contextualize these data, by comparing the data to wild modern turkey and additional data from other sites in the region. Results indicate some maize foddering and/or scavenging suggesting penning was not the dominant management strategy, while time periods during and after the medieval climatic anomaly (MCA) show a shift to confinement and maize foddering as the dominant strategy. The intensification of husbandry practices is an expected outcome of resource stress associated with the MCA, and this is also the time period when turkey pens begin to appear in the regional archaeological record. Isotopic expectations derived from ethnohistorical accounts suggest general continuity in both passive and intensive management strategies when compared to the prehistoric data.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21621