Implementing a multidisciplinary approach to study the introduction of the Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) in Europe: when archaeozoology meets biomolecular archaeology
Abstract
The turkey is a North American domestic bird that took part in the Columbian exchange soon after 1492. According to historical accounts, the first birds were imported to Spain, from Mexico or Central America, in 1512 and it took them only a few decades to reach Northeastern Europe.
Eventually, some domestic populations that were selected in Europe were brought back to America. While today the domestic turkey plays a substantial role in meat production worldwide and is a central symbol of festivities in various cultures, in particular in Europe, many questions remain unanswered regarding its spread from North America to Europe and its subsequent adoption.
This presentation addresses the challenges in understanding the post-1492 history of the turkey through the implementation of a multidisciplinary study of archaeological bones. A large collaborative effort allowed us to gather ca. 150 turkey remains from 14 European countries and one Caribbean island.
Turkey bones can be difficult to identify due their high similarity with different domestic galliforms (chicken, peacock, Guinea fowl). Thus we used a combination of morphological criteria and biomolecular analyses (archaeogenomics and, to a lesser extent, peptide mass fingerprinting [ZooMS]) to validate species identifications.
Sex identification was performed combining morphological criteria, morphometrics and genomic markers to infer husbandry practices and potential biases in sample choice. Finally, we used a genomic approach to explore population dynamics from America to Europe and back.