An Ancient Pueblo Turkey

Abstract

I'HE anatomy and color of the plumage of the domestic turkey has uindergone considerable change from those of its wild ancestors. The turkey in the Southwest was domesticated at least as early as the Pueblo I period (c. 700-900 A.D.), and was held in captivity, possibly domnesticated, during the Modified Basketmaker Period (c. 500-700 A.D.; Miartin et al., 1947: 528). It was of interest to determine if the bird kept by the Pueblos ha(l undergone any change. The bones found at archaeological sites have shown no definite difference from those of the wild bird (AMeleagrris gallopavo merriami). The best approach to the problem appeared to be an examination of desiccated turkeys that retained somiie of their plumage. In 1905 Hough (1914: 139) made a cursory examinatioln of Tularosa Cave, which is located a short distance northeast of Reserve, New Mexico. A photograph in his paper showed a tturkey that appeared to retain many of its feathers. Fortunately the specimen was still in the U.S. National Museum and was forwarded to me by Herbert Friedmann, to whom I wish to express my thanks. A photograph of the turkey in its l)resent condition is shown in Figure 1. Onnly the shafts for the most part of the primaries and secondaries remuaini, anid there are feathers oni v7arious parts of the body. The rectrices are missing and may have been plucked. There are numerous pin feathers on the shoulders. Under normal conditions this would indicate that the bird was in molt and that it died in July or August; however, the presence of all of the shafts of the l)rimaries slhows that molt wvas not in progress. The Pueblos plucked their turkeys to obtain featlhers for ceremonial purposes and for the manufacture of feather blankets, so that the pin feathers may result from plucking rather thai] molt. Hough's photograph indicated that the neck was feathered (Figure 2). This seemed so improbable that I concluded that the effect might be due to a shadow. Surprisingly the neck proved to be densely feathered to the base of the skull, a condition unique among turkeys. The shape of the neck feathers (Figure 3) differs decidedly from that of the normal neck feather (Figure 4) of a Merriam's Turkey taken from the same position on the neck. The shaft ends so abruptly that there was a possibility that a filoplume had broken off. None of the neck feathers show a filoplume extension, and under the microscope there is no indication of a fractured end. The neck feathers are semiplumes and more downy than the semiplumes to be found on the neck