Cultural And Genetic Contexts For Early Turkey Domestication In The Northern Southwest 2016 (original) (raw)
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Cultural and Genetic Contexts for Early Turkey Domestication in the Northern Southwest
American Antiquity, 2016
The turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) was independently domesticated in Mesoamerica and the Southwest, the latter as the only case of Native American animal domestication north of Mexico. In the upland (non-desert) portion of the American Southwest, distinctive closely related mtDNA lineages belonging to haplogroup H1 (thought to indicate domestication) occur from ca. 1 A.D. (Basketmaker II period) through early historic times. At many sites, low frequencies of lineages belonging to haplogroup H2 also occur, apparently derived from the local Merriam’s subspecies. We report genetic, stable isotope, and coprolite data from turkey remains recovered at three early sites in SE Utah and SW Colorado dating to the Basketmaker II, III, and early Pueblo II periods. Evidence from these and other early sites indicates that both the H1 and H2 turkeys had a predominantly maize-based diet similar to that of humans; prior to late Pueblo II times, the birds were kept primarily to provide feathers for bla...
American Antiquity, 2023
In the US Southwest and Northwest Mexico, people and turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) have had a reciprocal relationship for millennia; turkeys supplied feathers, meat, and other resources, whereas people provided food, shelter, and care. To investigate how turkeys fit within subsistence, economic production, sociopolitical organization, and religious and ritual practice in the Mimbres Valley of southwestern New Mexico, we report on genetic (mtDNA) and stable isotope (δ 13 C, δ 15 N) data from turkeys recovered from Mimbres Classic period (AD 1000-1130) sites. Results indicate that Mimbres aviculturists had haplogroup H1 and H2 turkeys, and most ate maize-based diets similar to humans, but some ate nonmaize and mixed diets. We contextualize these data to other turkey studies from the northern Southwest and discuss how the human-turkey relationship began, the evidence for pens and restricting turkey movement, and the socioecological factors related to turkey management during the Classic period, particularly the challenges associated with providing maize to turkeys during times of environmental stress. This study has broad relevance to places where people managed wild, tame, and domestic animals, and we offer new insights into how prehispanic, small-scale, middle-range agricultural societies managed turkeys for ritual and utilitarian purposes.
Turkeys on the fringe: Variable husbandry in “marginal” areas of the prehistoric American Southwest
δ13C isotopes of the Tijeras turkeys suggest two diets, one C3-based and one C4.The C3 turkeys at Tijeras are largely genetically domestic.Analysis of collagen-apatite spacing suggests the Tijeras C3 turkeys were free-ranged.The presence of two husbandry practices may reflect location on a cultural boundary.Previous research reporting stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope values of prehistoric turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) remains from the American Southwest indicates that these birds were husbanded in consistent ways: the majority of samples suggest a diet dominated by maize, a domesticate that uses the C4 photosynthetic pathway. However, most of these studies have focused on turkey remains from locations where maize would likely have been readily available. Here we present isotope and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotype data from turkey remains from the relatively high-elevation site of Tijeras Pueblo (LA 581), a location where maize production may have been marginal. The Tijeras Pueblo turkeys display a unique carbon isotope pattern in both bone collagen and bone apatite, with half the samples indicating a predominately C3 diet (a signature characteristic of modern wild turkeys) and the other half predominately C4, even though the majority of samples belong to the Southwestern domestic turkey mtDNA lineage identified by Speller et al. (2010). Comparative collagen samples from the Albuquerque Basin and the Gallina region do not follow this pattern. Apatite-collagen δ13C spacing in the Tijeras turkeys suggests these birds were acquiring carbohydrates and protein from a mixture of C3- and C4-based resources. We propose that the C3 Tijeras turkeys were free-ranged, and that the presence of two distinct turkey husbandry regimes at Tijeras Pueblo may reflect Tijeras' geographic location on a cultural boundary between the Plains and Pueblo regions.
The turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) represents one of the few domestic animals of the New World. While current research points to distinct domestication centres in the Southwest USA and Mesoamerica, several questions regarding the number of progenitor populations, and the timing and intensity of turkey husbandry remain unanswered. This study applied ancient mitochondrial DNA and stable isotope (δ13C, δ15N) analysis to 55 archaeological turkey remains from Mexico to investigate pre-contact turkey exploitation in Mesoamerica. Three different (sub)species of turkeys were identified in the archaeological record (M. g. mexicana, M. g. gallopavo and M. ocellata), indicating the exploitation of diverse local populations, as well as the trade of captively reared birds into the Maya area. No evidence of shared maternal haplotypes was observed between Mesoamerica and the Southwest USA, in contrast with archaeological evidence for trade of other domestic products. Isotopic analysis indicates a range of feeding behaviours in ancient Mesoamerican turkeys, including wild foraging, human provisioning and mixed feeding ecologies. This variability in turkey diet decreases through time, with archaeological, genetic and isotopic evidence all pointing to the intensification of domestic turkey management and husbandry, culminating in the Postclassic period.
KIVA, 2012
Archaeological studies have demonstrated the increasingly important role of turkeys in the lives of ancient Puebloan peoples of the American Southwest. The origin of domesticated turkeys, however, remains an unanswered question especially given the absence of turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) in early and middle Holocene contexts prior to the arrival of maize agriculture. This paper reports turkey remains from very early Holocene deposits in North Creek Shelter in southern Utah and reviews extant literature for early turkey remains in the Southwest. These
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2010
Isotopic analysis of domestic turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) bones from Shields Pueblo, southwest Colorado, USA, suggests that these birds consumed a diet high in C4 plants. This contrasts with the diet of local herbivores, where much lower percentages of C4 plants were recorded. In view of the prevalence of maize (Zea mays) in the human diet of Ancestral Puebloan people, we suggest that turkeys were fed food scraps and surplus maize, rather than being allowed to forage for themselves. This suggests that turkeys were carefully tended in the household. Analysis of specimens from other sites in the northern Southwest shows that this pattern of turkey feeding characterizes all of the sampled horticultural communities.
The Uncertain Origins of Mesoamerican Turkey Domestication
The turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is the only domesticated vertebrate to originate from North America. Accurate reconstructions of the timing, location, and process of its domestication are thus critical for understanding the domestication process in the ancient Americas. A substantial amount of recent research has been devoted to understanding turkey domestication in the American Southwest, but comparatively little research has been conducted on the subject in Mesoamerica, despite the fact that all modern domestic turkeys descend from birds originally domesticated in Mexico during pre-colonial times. To address this disparity, we have conducted a review of the available literature on early turkeys in the archaeological record of Mesoamerica. We evaluate the evidence in terms of its accuracy and use this evaluation as a stepping off point for suggesting potential avenues of future research. Although the lack of available data from Mesoamerica currently precludes detailed cross-cultural comparisons, we briefly compare the origins and intensification of turkey rearing in Mesoamerica with the American Southwest to generate more dialogue among researchers independently studying the topic in these two distinct but interconnected cultural regions.