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Reconstructing animal husbandry: Trauma in Meleagris gallopavo (domestic turkey) ulnae from the American Southwest (c. 900–1678 CE)

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posted on 2016-05-24, 12:38 authored by B. Tyr Fothergill
Palaeopathological and metrical analyses of faunal remains have the potential to illuminate features of past husbandry practices including demography, stocking, injury and care, housing, transport and movement, diet, and breeding. This paper presents the results of metrical and palaeopathological analyses of turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) remains from nine assemblages excavated from sites across the American Southwest. Metrical data demonstrate variation in the size and overall morphology of turkeys across these sites and support the idea that meat production was not the sole purpose for turkey husbandry. The most frequently occurring type of lesion in any skeletal element was trauma (physical injury), and 36% of these pathologies were present in ulnae. Lesions in ulnae at five sites provide evidence for the possibility that feathers were harvested from live turkeys at some sites.

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Citation

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2016, DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.05.048

Author affiliation

/Organisation/COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, ARTS AND HUMANITIES/School of Archaeology and Ancient History

Version

  • VoR (Version of Record)

Published in

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

Publisher

Elsevier

issn

2352-409X

Acceptance date

2016-02-19

Copyright date

2016

Available date

2016-11-26

Publisher version

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X1630205X

Language

en

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