Earliest Mexican Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) in the Maya Region: Implications for Pre-Hispanic Animal Trade and the Timing of Turkey Domestication

Erin Kennedy Thornton,Ray Matheny,Kitty F. Emery,Camilla Speller,David W. Steadman,Dongya Yang,David Caramelli

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0042630

Abstract

Late Preclassic (300 BC–AD 100) turkey remains identified at the archaeological site of El Mirador (Petén, Guatemala) represent the earliest evidence of the Mexican turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) in the ancient Maya world. Archaeological, zooarchaeological, and ancient DNA evidence combine to confirm the identification and context. The natural pre-Hispanic range of the Mexican turkey does not extend south of central Mexico, making the species non-local to the Maya area where another species, the ocellated turkey (Meleagris ocellata), is indigenous. Prior to this discovery, the earliest evidence of M. gallopavo in the Maya area dated to approximately one thousand years later. The El Mirador specimens therefore represent previously unrecorded Preclassic exchange of animals from northern Mesoamerica to the Maya cultural region. As the earliest evidence of M. gallopavo found outside its natural geographic range, the El Mirador turkeys also represent the earliest indirect evidence for Mesoamerican turkey rearing or domestication. The presence of male, female and sub-adult turkeys, and reduced flight morphology further suggests that the El Mirador turkeys were raised in captivity. This supports an argument for the origins of turkey husbandry or at least captive rearing in the Preclassic.

Highlights

The turkey was a significant animal for the ancient Maya, whose realm stretched from northern Honduras to southern Mexico
We identified the El Mirador turkey specimens through morphology, osteometrics, and ancient DNA analysis
We do not yet know the immediate source of the turkey bones, the most reasonable explanation is that a few Mexican turkeys entered the site as exchange goods directly from central/ northern Mexico suggesting that Late Preclassic association between El Mirador and contemporary northern Mesoamerican cultures at sites such as Teotihuacan was closer than previously recognized

Summary

Introduction

The turkey was a significant animal for the ancient Maya, whose realm stretched from northern Honduras to southern Mexico. The Maya were assumed to have used only the native, wild ocellated turkey (Meleagris ocellata) throughout the Preclassic to Classic period of cultural florescence (ending in AD 1000). The Mexican turkey (Meleagris gallopavo gallopavo), domesticated in central/northern Mexico [1], was presumed to have been introduced fairly late in time during the Postclassic (AD 1000– 1500), the final period of pre-Contact Maya occupation (Table S1). 300 BC–AD 100) deposits from the Maya archaeological site of El Mirador overturns these assumptions and places M. gallopavo introduction 1000 years earlier. In this collaborative study, we identified the El Mirador turkey specimens through morphology, osteometrics, and ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis. The results lead us to reconsider the timing of turkey domestication and diffusion throughout Mesoamerica, as well as the nature and extent of Preclassic Mesoamerican trade connections

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