When Were Turkeys Domesticated?

Native Americans domesticated turkeys much earlier than thought. Until recently, it was assumed that Europeans who colonized the Americas domesticated the turkey a few hundred years ago, while the Native Americans had historically hunted them. Now, scientists have found evidence that suggests that turkeys were domesticated and managed independently by early Native Americans in the Southeast and Mesoamerica hundreds of years earlier than initially thought. Using stable isotope analysis, scientists measured the age of turkey bones found on ancestral sites. By knowing the half-life of specific isotopes, scientists can look at the ratio of parent and daughter isotopes in a sample to determine the age of a material. The scientists also measured the bone lengths to compare ancient bones to modern male and female wild turkeys of different species and subspecies.