Rare animals at a Mississippian chiefly compound: the Irene Mound site (9CH1), Georgia, USA

Testing for Mississippian Period Turkey Management in the Archaeological Record of the Southeastern United States

“…In many parts of the southeastern United States, 1 wild turkeys ( Meleagris gallopavo ) were sources of meat, eggs, bones, and feathers for Indigenous Americans. At Mississippian period (AD 1000–1450) sites in the Southeast, they were a common food (Peres 2017) and often associated with contexts related to prestige, ritual, and feasting (Jackson and Scott 2003; Ledford and Peres 2018; Reitz et al 2020). Given their importance as both utilitarian and ritual resources, and the successful domestication of the species in both the American Southwest and Mesoamerica (Manin et al 2018; Speller et al 2010), Indigenous peoples in Eastern North America (eastern United States and Canada) may have practiced flock management or small-scale captive rearing to promote turkey abundance.…”