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Turkey: Domestication

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Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology

The turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is a member of the order Galliformes, which include chickens, guineas, peafowls, and other terrestrial birds. Within the family Meleagrididae, there is one living genus, Meleagris, with two living species: Meleagris gallopavo, the North American turkey, and M. ocellata, the ocellated turkey.

Five wild turkey subspecies currently occupy distinct territories in North and Central America (Fig. 1) (Dickson 1992; Schorger 1966): M. g. silvestris (Eastern wild turkey) inhabits the deciduous forest and oak-savannah of the eastern half of the USA, M. g. osceola (Florida wild turkey) resides in evergreen and tropical areas of southern Florida, M. g. intermedia (Rio Grande wild turkey) ranges over the south central plains and north-eastern Mexico, M. g. merriami (Merriam’s wild turkey) ranges within the montane-woodlands of the Southwest USA, and M. g. mexicana(Gould’s wild turkey) occupies the pine-oak forests of southern Arizona and New Mexico, and...

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References

  • Breitburg, E. 1988. Prehistoric New World turkey domestication: origins, developments, and consequences. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Southern Illinois University.

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  • Crawford, R.D. 1992. Introduction to Europe and the diffusion of domesticated turkeys from the Americas. Archivos de Zootecnia. 41: 307-314.

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  • Driver, J. C. 2002. Faunal variation and change in the Northern San Juan region, in M. D. Varien & R. H. Wilshusen (ed.) Seeking the center place: archaeology and ancient communities in the Mesa Verde region: 143-160. Salt Lake City: The University of Utah Press.

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  • Schorger, A.W. 1966. The wild turkey: its history and domestication. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

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  • Speller, C.F., B.M. Kemp, S.D. Wyatt, C. Monroe, W.D. Lipe, U.M. Arndt, & D.Y. Yang. 2010. Ancient mitochondrial DNA analysis reveals complexity of indigenous North American turkey domestication. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107: 2807-2812.

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Further Reading

  • Breitburg, E. 1993. The evolution of turkey domestication in the greater Southwest and Mesoamerica, in A.I. Woosley & J.C. Ravesloot (ed.) Culture and contact: Charles C. Di Peso’s Gran Chichimeca: 153-172. Albuquerque: The University of New Mexico Press.

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  • Crawford, R. D. 1984. Turkey, in I. L. Mason (ed.) Evolution of domesticated animals: 325-334. London: Longman Group Ltd.

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  • Marsden, S. J. & J. H. Martin. 1946. Turkey management, 4th edn. Danville: The Interstate.

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  • McKusick, C. R. 2001. Southwest birds of sacrifice. The Arizona Archaeologist 31.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada

    Camilla Speller

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  1. Camilla Speller
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Correspondence to Camilla Speller .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Archaeology, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Claire Smith

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Speller, C. (2014). Turkey: Domestication. In: Smith, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_2219

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_2219

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