[Aztlan] Ancient turkey domestication

[michael ruggeri]

Listeros,

A report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says turkeys were domesticated in Mexico at 800 BCE, and then in the Southwest at 200 BCE. DNA analysis shows that these instances were separate events. Turkeys were initially used for their feathers for ritual robes and blankets. They did not become an important food source until 1100 CE for the Anasazi of the Ancient Southwest. 149 turkey bones and 29 turkey coprolites from 38 sites were studied. Pre-Aztec peoples let the turkeys roam around the village or penned them. The Anasazi raised them on the Colorado Plateau. They also incorporated wild turkeys into their stock. But they became extinct and the only turkey we eat today descended from turkeys raised by the Aztecs. Turkeys were exported by the Spanish to Europe and then they were re-exported to Mexico making the record more complex.

Discovery News has the story here;
http://news.discovery.com/archaeology/native-americans-turkeys-domestication.html

Mike Ruggeri

Mike Ruggeri's Aztec and Toltec World
http://tinyurl.com/yqypej

Mike Ruggeri's The Ancient Southwest
http://tinyurl.com/2j8whx