Department of Anthropology Colloquium
4:10 Thursday, February 1
College Hall 125
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Mesoamerican Turkey Management and Domestication: Recent Advances and New Directions
Dr. Erin Thornton
Department of Anthropology, Washington State University
Through the process of animal domestication, humans assumed increasing control over the animal resources they relied on, and fundamentally altered how they interacted with and impacted their environment. The topic of animal domestication is therefore of crucial importance to understanding past human societies and evolving human-animal relationships. Animal domestication independently emerged on several continents during prehistoric times, but only a single vertebrate animal – the turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), was domesticated in ancient North America. Despite this distinction, comparatively little research has been done on turkey domestication until recently. This talk will summarize the zooarchaeological, isotopic and genetic research conducted to-date by Dr. Thornton and her colleagues on Mesoamerican turkey domestication. Dr. Thornton will also outline the next stages of this research, and present related analyses addressing the potential of turkey management at Mississippian period sites in the Southeastern United States.
Erin Thornton is an environmental archaeologist and assistant professor in the WSU Department of Anthropology. Her work primarily focuses on the ancient Maya, but she has conducted archaeological research involving cultural remains from Peru, the Caribbean, and the southeastern United States. Her research interests include animal domestication, political economy and exchange, and environmental questions regarding human impacts on and responses to deforestation, climate, and changing wildlife populations. She is currently concentrating on Mesoamerican turkey domestication.
All are welcome to attend!
