Uncovering the Transatlantic History of Turkey Husbandry and Breeding using a Multi-Disciplinary Approach

Project Information

TURKEY

Grant agreement ID: 748679

DOI

10.3030/748679

Project closed

EC signature date 14 March 2017

Start date 1 September 2017

End date 31 August 2019

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 195 454,80

EU contribution

€ 195 454,80

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITY OF YORK
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - TURKEY (Uncovering the Transatlantic History of Turkey Husbandry and Breeding using a Multi-Disciplinary Approach)

Reporting period: 2017-09-01 to 2019-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

"Despite its popularity and symbolism as a festive food in both Europe and the Americas, the transatlantic history of the turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) and its introduction to Europe remains enigmatic. Perhaps 2000 years ago, indigenous cultures in Mexico and the American Southwest began to captively raise and breed turkeys. While there has been a recent surge in the application of multi-proxy approaches to document the origins and regional trajectories of these indigenous New World turkey management practices, virtually nothing is known of how turkeys were imported to Europe (through a process known as the ‘Columbian Exchange’) and selected to obtain the domestic breeds we know today. Yet, the turkey is one of the most important birds in the poultry industry, third only behind the chicken and the duck. According to the last report of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, more than 5.5 million tons of turkey meat was produced in the world in 2013, a third of which being produced in Europe (www.fao.org/faostat).

Modern husbandry practices, in particular the extreme selective pressures that accompanied the definition of breeds and their industrialisation, have caused an erosion of livestock diversity, threatening the adaptation and resilience of domestic species to climatic and environmental fluctuations. In 2014, the FAO reported seven breeds of turkey at risk of extinction worldwide and two European breeds are already extinct. In this context, the archaeological study of turkey management practices is a key to understanding the history of domestic populations.

Using cutting-edge techniques of archaeozoology and biomolecular archaeology, TURKEY aimed to (1) enhance the understanding of early transatlantic connections and the rapid spread of goods resulting from the Columbian Exchange; (2) explore the transformation of turkey from ornamental birds to reliable food sources in Europe; (3) advance the state-of-the-art in domestication research; (4) provide new perspective into the ""improvement"" of modern agricultural practices, the genetic resilience of modern poultry breeds and food security.
"

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Over this two-year project, the ER investigated the contextual, spatial and temporal distribution of turkey husbandry in Europe, reconstructed demographic profiles through sex and age identification, characterised turkey diet using stable isotopes and documented their geographical origin through a genomic approach.

After collecting the archaeological bone samples to be used in subsequent analyses, the ER performed linear measurements and initiated a systematic 3D-photogrametric recording of turkey femurs to explore morphological variations. She also created a ZooMS database of known birds to be used in the collagen fingerprinting identification and analysed the stable isotopic composition of the collagen to provide insight in ancient poultry foddering (+100 samples across Europe, ranging from the end of the 15th century to the 19th century).
The ER extracted the DNA from +100 archaeological turkeys from America and Europe, performed simplex PCR for a first assessment of mitochondrial haplotype attribution and sex identification, and built libraries that were shotgun sequenced. She ran the bioinformatics analysis of the resulting data to produce phylogenies on the mitochondrial genomes and resolve the origin of European turkeys.

Bringing together the expertise of archaeozoologists from multiple countries in Europe and North America, TURKEY refined the analysis of turkeys in archaeological sites of post-medieval Europe. She organized a workshop held in York (United Kingdom) in June 2018 entitled “Exploring the transatlantic history of the turkey through archaeological evidence”. This workshop allowed the ER and the different collaborators of the project to discuss the question of turkey identification, cultural association, and the evolution of husbandry practices.
The outcome of the project was disseminated through scientific communication in international conferences: the International Council for Archaeozoology – Bird working group (2018), the International Council for Archaeozoology – General meeting (2018), the Society for American Archaeology – Annual conference (2018, 2019).

The ER also engaged with a broader audience by participating in various interviews about the history of turkey domestication, particularly around Christmas. She gave interviews to different media (National Public Radio, American Archaeology Magazine) and was invited in the radio programme Les Années Lumières of Radio Canada (https://ici.radio-canada.ca/premiere/emissions/les-annees-lumiere/episodes/423042/audio-fil-du-dimanche-23-decembre-2018).

Alongside her work on turkey management and introduction to Europe, the ER continued the dissemination of her research on Mesoamerican archaeology, a key region for turkey domestication. In particular, she participated in the elaboration of an exhibition at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City entitled “La ciudad perdida. Raices de los soberanos tarascos” and authored a paper in the book of the same name (2018, edited by G. Pereira and E. Padilla), promoting the studies of animal management and symbolism in Western Mexico. She also co-authored a paper on the history and genetic legacy of ancient hairless dogs in Mexico (Manin et al. 2018, Journal of Archaeological Science 98: 128-136).

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Dissemination of the results will be pursued after the end of the project. A communication at the International Council for Archaeozoology – Genomics and Morphometrics (Oct. 2019) is already planned and several publications are in preparation.

The TURKEY project has greatly improved our understanding of turkey domestication and management, in particular their introduction to Europe and their integration into the pre-existent system of poultry husbandry. It has also contributed to bring to a broad audience questions regarding the origin of domestic animals, early exchanges between Europe and the Americas, and the evolutionary history of the turkey.

Future directions could include a more thorough comparison between ancient populations and modern breeds, in particular landraces, to strengthen the collaborations between archaeology and modern poultry.

An historical representation of a turkey, 1767