Ceremonial Fowl: An Iconographic Analysis of Turkey Effigy Vessels from Greater Nicoya, Costa Rica

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Animal imagery is an essential component ubiquitously present in the ancient cultures of southern Central America. Despite the immense variety of local avian species in the tropics, non-native turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) feature prominently in high-quality polychrome ceramics from the Greater Nicoya area in Costa Rica. In this poster, I present an iconographic study of turkey effigy vessels from Costa Rican museum collections. Preliminary results reveal that these birds are depicted almost exclusively on funerary or ceremonial vessels alongside symbols of power and prestige. Moreover, this research explores broader regional interactions by analyzing representations in the stylistic tradition known as the Postclassic International or Mixteca-Puebla style. Coupled with ancient DNA data from archaeological specimens, turkey imagery also suggests an association between feather color variation and adaptations to humid tropical climates, offering new perspectives on how ancient societies may have adapted these birds to a new environment. This analysis aims to contribute to understanding human-animal relationships and their impact on ancient societies along Mesoamerica’s southern frontier.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 52991