Turkey domestication
Domesticación del pavo
- Date
- c. 300 BCE · confidence low
- Place
- El Mirador, Petén, Guatemala
- Credited to
- Mesoamerican peoples (Preclassic)
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
Meleagris gallopavo, native to central Mexico, appears in Maya contexts far from its wild range, implying breeding and trade. It is, alongside the Muscovy duck, the only bird domesticated in the Americas.
Thornton et al. (2012, PLOS ONE): Mexican turkeys from the Late Preclassic (300 BCE-100 CE) at El Mirador, confirmed with ancient DNA. Ancestral peoples of the south-western United States raised turkeys independently from c. 200 CE.
What it led to
- a source of animal protein and feathers in Mesoamerica
- independent domestication in the south-western United States
- its spread to Europe in the 16th century