Ancient Maya turkey husbandry: Testing theories through stable isotope analysis

Abstract

Large gaps exist in our knowledge of ancient Maya turkey husbandry and management. Among the questions still needing to be addressed are: 1) when and where was the non-local wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) introduced to and adopted by the ancient Maya, and 2) did the ancient Maya also rear captive or tame populations of the indigenous ocellated turkey (Meleagris ocellata)? In this paper, we assess the potential of stable isotope analysis to address these questions. We employ stable carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) isotope analysis to determine whether wild and husbanded turkeys in the Maya region can be distinguished based on their diets. Strontium isotope analysis (87 Sr/ 86 Sr) is also used to distinguish between M. gallopavo individuals that were imported from central/northern Mexico, and those raised on-site in the Maya lowlands. The results indicate that stable isotope analysis is a promising and underutilized method for testing theories regarding ancient Maya turkey husbandry.

Hunting, husbandry, exchange and ritual: animal use and meaning at Moxviquil, Chiapas Mexico

“…were the only known domesticated animals in highland Chiapas during the Early Postclassic period. Both species have been recovered at lowland Maya sites in Guatemala and Belize, dating to the Middle Preclassic period (Wing 1978;Shaw 1991;Clutten-Brock & Hammond 1994;White et al 2001;Thornton et al 2012Thornton et al , 2016Thornton & Emery 2017;Manin et al 2018a). In pre-Columbian times, domestic dogs in the Maya culture area were eaten (Pohl 1990;Clutten-Brock & Hammond 1994) and used in sacrifices (Pollock & Ray 1957).…”

Jaguar and puma captivity and trade among the Maya: Stable isotope data from Copan, Honduras

“…Human dietary intervention results in diets substantially altered from wild controls, reflected in correspondingly distinct animal isotope compositions. For example, macaws penned at the pre-Hispanic site of Paquimé in northern Mexico [ 12 ], turkeys in the ancient Southwestern United States and in the Maya region [ 8 , 75 ], or lagomorphs kept in captivity in Teotihuacan [ 18 , 19 ] were identified isotopically because of their conspicuously elevated or even total reliance on C 4 based resources. Among domesticated dogs of the Maya, this increased reliance on C 4 resources correlated with a decrease in nitrogen isotope ratios, an indication that meat protein input decreased as reliance on agricultural maize increased [ 20 ].…”

“…Oxygen isotope ratios, expressed as δ 18 O carbonate , can be read from bone, tooth enamel, and tooth dentine. As the δ 18 O values varies by the water source an organism drinks (which in turn reflects the climate and geography of the region) and the organism’s physiology, oxygen isotope ratios can illuminate origin and migration patterns of humans and animals [ 8 , 23 , 76 – 78 ]. Throughout Mesoamerica, extensive work on oxygen and strontium isotopes on human skeletal remains have helped develop isoscapes of the regions studied [ 79 – 83 ].…”

“…Research on animal management strategies in the New World has been underemphasized largely due to the paucity of true domesticates in ancient Mesoamerica; a group represented in this region only by the dog [ 5 ] and the turkey [ 6 – 8 ]. In comparison to the substantial impact of Mesoamerican agricultural plants on the global economy during the Columbian Exchange [ 9 ], Mesoamerican animals were relegated to the status of mere zoological curiosities; a characterization which obscured the extent to which they were an essential component of daily life.…”

Diversity of management strategies in Mesoamerican turkeys: archaeological, isotopic and genetic evidence

“…In addition to the common turkey ( M. gallopavo ), the brightly plumed ocellated turkey ( M. ocellata ) is found within Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, and parts of northern Belize and Guatemala ( figure 1 ). While ocellated turkeys are not currently raised as domestic birds in the Yucatan, their potential captive rearing has long been discussed among zooarchaeologists and ornithologists, although this practice has not been conclusively demonstrated in the archaeological record [ 30 ]. Finally, previous aDNA research suggested that the domestic turkey of the SW USA was genetically distinct from the Mesoamerican lineage [ 19 ] with no evidence for trade of domestic turkey between the two regions.…”