Pre-Hispanic Turkey Domestication, Husbandry & Management in the North American Southwest

In this third Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) lecture in the 2019-20 series, Dr. Dr. Cyler Conrad, University of New Mexico, uses information from animal bones at archaeological sites and studies of ancient turkey DNA and stable isotopes (as a proxy for turkey diets), to identify longterm trends in the domestication, husbandry and management of these birds (Meleagris gallopavo) throughout the recent past. He’ll also provide case study examples from the northern Rio Grande to illustrate the diversity and complexity of human-turkey interaction in the Pueblo world, and what this means for human-turkey interaction today.