Stable Isotope Analysis of Turkey (Meleagriscc Gallopavo) Diet from Pueblo II and Pueblo III Sites, Middle San Juan Region, Northwest New Mexico

Abstract

AbstractThe transition from the Pueblo 11 Period (A.D. 1050–1150) to the Pueblo III Period (A.D. 1150–1300) in the San Juan Basin marks an intensification of turkey use, evidenced by an increase in the percentage of faunal assemblages representing turkey bones. We examine stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen ( δ15N) isotopic values of turkey bones from three ancestral Puebloan sites in the Middle San Juan Region to test the hypothesis that this intensification is linked to an increase in the amount of maize in the turkeys’ diets. We find no significant change in δ13C or δ15N across the two time periods, and all of the specimens’ values indicate maize consumption. A plot of bone apatite δ13C against collagen δ13C is consistent with a model of diets high in C4protein, indicating that the turkeys did not use an alternative source of protein to maize and/or fauna that fed on maize. The reliance of both humans and turkeys on maize indicates a degree of turkey-human interdependency not previously known in the Middle San Juan Region. Future inquiries into the paleodiet of turkeys should target times and places where there is likely to have been a transition from hunting to domestication.