Persistence in Turkey Husbandry Practices in the Southwest and Four Corners Region: The isotopic and ethnohistorical evidence

Summary

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 ago, we still know little about turkey husbandry within prehistoric agricultural groups from the Southwest and Four Corners Region, USA. Our research applies carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses to a sample of archaeological turkey bones from the Tohatchi Flats region of the Chuska Mountains, New Mexico, USA. To contextualize these samples, we compare them to wild modern turkey isotope data and previously published archaeological turkey isotope analyses. Results strongly resemble ethnohistorical accounts of these regions, where diverse practices would result in varying stable isotope ratios, including the capture and integration of young wild turkeys, taking wild eggs for flock hens to raise, "penning" in kitchens, "penning" in coops, free ranging, and tethering. Notably, archaeological turkey samples display distinct patterning through time (Basket Maker III – Pueblo III), which is reflective of the varied ways turkeys were tended to ethnohistorical accounts and suggests significant variation in husbandry practices and perhaps the shifting meaning of turkeys within Puebloan societies.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Current Research on Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) Domestication, Husbandry and Management in North America and Beyond

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25677