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People living in Mesoamerica and what is now the eastern and southwestern United States used turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) as sources of meat, eggs, bones, and feathers. Turkey husbandry and domestication are confirmed in two of these regions (Mesoamerica and the American Southwest), but human-turkey interactions in Eastern North American (eastern United States and Canada) are not fully explored. We apply stable isotope (δ13C, δ15N) and ancient mitochondrial DNA analyses to archaeofaunal samples from seven sites in the southeastern United States to test whether turkeys were managed or captively reared. These combined data do not support prolonged or intensive captive rearing of turkeys, and evidence for less intensive management is ambiguous. More research is warranted to determine whether people managed turkeys in these areas, and whether this is generalizable. Determining whether turkeys were managed or reared in the southeastern United States helps define cultural and environmental factors related to turkey management or husbandry throughout North America. This inquiry contributes to discussion of the roles of intensified human-animal interactions in animal domestication.

Despite the prevalence of Woodland-period middens on the Gulf of Mexico’s northern coast, Woodland fisheries remain poorly known. Vertebrate and invertebrate assemblages from Plash Island (1BA134; ...

A zooarchaeological study of fish remains deposited between 1710 and 1900 within a large urban center provides information about households, social hierarchies, and fisheries. Charleston (South Carolina, USA) is an international seaport founded on the southern Atlantic coast of North America in 1670. Fish were important in the city’s cuisine and economy, with Africans involved in many aspects of the fishery. Fish in upper-status townhouse zooarchaeological assemblages are more diverse but from lower trophic levels compared to assemblages from other contexts. This fishery largely focused on in-shore waters until the mid-1800s, when changes presaging those of the twentieth century occurred.

Understanding the causes and consequences of previous climate changes is essential for testing present-day climate models and projections. Archaeological sites are paleoenvironmental archives containing unique ecological baselines with data on paleoclimate transformations at a human timescale. Anthropogenic and nonanthropogenic forces have destroyed many sites, and others are under immediate threat. In the face of this loss, previously excavated collections from these sites—referred to as legacy collections—offer a source of climate and other paleoenvironmental information that may no longer exist elsewhere. Here, we 1) review obstacles to systematically using data from legacy archaeological collections, such as inconsistent or unreported field methods, inadequate records, unsatisfactory curation, and insufficient public knowledge of relevant collections; 2) suggest best practices for integrating archaeological data into climate and environmental research; and 3) summarize several studies to demonstrate the benefits and challenges of using legacy collections as archives of local and regional environmental proxies. Data from archaeological legacy collections contribute regional ecological baselines as well as serve to correct shifting baselines. They also enable regional climate reconstructions at various timescales and corroborate or refine radiocarbon dates. Such uses of legacy collections raise ethical concerns regarding ownership of and responsibility for cultural resources and highlight the importance of Indigenous involvement in planning and executing fieldwork and stewardship of cultural heritage. Finally, we discuss methodologies, practices, and policies pertaining to archaeological legacy collections and support calls for discipline-wide shifts in collections management to ensure their long-term utility in multidisciplinary research and public engagement.

Archaeological evidence plays a key role in longitudinal studies of humans and climate. Climate proxy data from Peruvian archaeological sites provide a case study through insight into the history of the “flavors” or varieties of El Niño (EN) events after ∼11 ka: eastern Pacific EN, La Niña, coastal EN (COA), and central Pacific or Modoki EN (CP). Archaeological proxies are important to the coastal Peruvian case because more commonly used paleoclimate proxies are unavailable or equivocal. Previously, multiproxy evidence from the Peruvian coast and elsewhere suggested that EN frequency varied over the Holocene: 1) present in the Early Holocene; 2) absent or very low frequency during the Middle Holocene (∼9 to 6 ka); 3) low after ∼6 ka; and 4) rapidly increasing frequency after 3 ka. Despite skepticism about the reliability of archaeological proxies, nonarchaeological proxies seemed to confirm this archaeological EN reconstruction. Although there is consensus that EN frequency varied over this period, some nonarchaeological and archaeological proxies call parts of this reconstruction into question. Here we review Holocene EN frequency reconstructions for the Peruvian coast, point to complexities introduced by apparent contradictions in a range of proxy records, consider the impact of CP and COA phenomena, and assess the merits of archaeological proxies in EN reconstructions. Reconciling Peruvian coastal paleoclimate data is critical for testing models of future EN behavior under climate variability.

Unlike other European domesticates introduced in the Americas after the European invasion, equids (Equidae) were previously in the Western Hemisphere but were extinct by the late Holocene era. The return of equids to the Americas through the introduction of the domestic horse (Equus caballus) is documented in the historical literature but is not explored fully either archaeologically or genetically. Historical documents suggest that the first domestic horses were brought from the Iberian Peninsula to the Caribbean in the late 15thcentury CE, but archaeological remains of these early introductions are rare. This paper presents the mitochondrial genome of a late 16thcentury horse from the Spanish colonial site of Puerto Real (northern Haiti). It represents the earliest complete mitogenome of a post-Columbian domestic horse in the Western Hemisphere offering a unique opportunity to clarify the phylogeographic history of this species in the Americas. Our data supports the hypothesis of an Iberian origin for this early translocated individual and clarifies its phylogenetic relationship with modern breeds in the Americas.

The Irene Mound site (9CH1) was a Middle and Late Mississippian site (ca. AD 1150–1450) situated on a bluff overlooking the lower Savannah River, Georgia (USA), a few kilometers upstream from the A...

Archaeofaunal remains from the central Georgia Bight (USA) are used in a case study for assessing coastal fisheries between 2760 BCE and 1500 CE, particularly from the perspective of sustainability. The longevity of this fishery is evaluated in terms of taxonomic attributions, richness, ubiquity, diversity, and mean trophic level (TL) of fish individuals (MNI) in assemblages from 22 coastal archaeological sites. The average pre-1500 TL (TL = 3.1) is below that of fish populations in a mid-twentieth-century ecological study (TL = 3.3). Although broad features of the regional fishery were sustained for millennia, practices at specific locations were influenced by environmental and cultural phenomena.

Understanding variation of traits within and among species through time and across space is central to many questions in biology. Many resources assemble species-level trait data, but the data and metadata underlying those trait measurements are often not reported. Here, we introduce FuTRES (Functional Trait Resource for Environmental Studies; pronounced few-tress), an online datastore and community resource for individual-level trait reporting that utilizes a semantic framework. FuTRES already stores millions of trait measurements for paleobiological, zooarchaeological, and modern specimens, with a current focus on mammals. We compare dynamically derived extant mammal species' body size measurements in FuTRES with summary values from other compilations, highlighting potential issues with simply reporting a single mean estimate. We then show that individual-level data improve estimates of body mass-including uncertainty-for zooarchaeological specimens. FuTRES facilitates trait data integration and discoverability, accelerating new research agendas, especially scaling from intra- to interspecific trait variability.

Understanding variation of traits within and among species through time and across space is central to many questions in biology. Many resources have been developed to assemble trait data at the species level, but the underlying data and metadata about those trait measurements are often not reported, limiting broadest utility. Here we introduce FuTRES (Functional Trait Resource for Environmental Studies), a datastore and community resource for individual-level trait reporting that utilizes a strong semantic framework and best practices approach to overcome previous limitations. FuTRES already stores millions of trait measurements that span across multiple time scales, including zooarchaeological and paleobiological specimens, with a current focus on mammals. Two case studies showcase the promise of FuTRES. The first compares dynamically derived extant mammal species' body size estimates with summary values from other compilations, highlighting potential issues with simply reporting a single mean estimate. The second shows that FuTRES data improves estimates of body mass – including uncertainty – for zooarchaeological specimens. FuTRES facilitates trait data integration and discoverability, accelerating new research agendas, especially scaling from intra- to interspecific trait variability.

Excavations in the 1970s at the ca. 1772 Heyward-Washington House in Charleston, South Carolina, produced a rich and diverse archaeological assemblage spanning the eighteenth and nineteenth...

Fish remains from archaeological sites provide insights into the impact of long-term use on a local fishery prior to the 20th century. The zooarchaeological record from CE 1565–1900 shows that fishing at towns, forts, and missions was an important economic activity in the central Georgia Bight (USA). Cartilaginous and bony fishes constitute a third of the vertebrate taxa and half of the vertebrate individuals (MNI) in 19 coastal assemblages. Most of these fish are from inshore, estuarine locales. The average mean trophic level of this fishery is moderately high (TL = 3.4). This TL persisted from 1565 into the 19th century, occasionally approaching or exceeding levels above 3.5. The fishery began to show signs of overuse during the 19th century, a trend continuing into the 20th century. This study demonstrates the importance of archaeological data toward identifying long-term trajectories in regional fisheries.

A single turkey ( Meleagris spp.) coracoid was identified from Puerto Real, a Spanish colonial town founded in 1503 on the north coast of Hispaniola and destroyed in 1579. Turkeys are not indigenous to Hispaniola, but wild turkeys were widespread in lands bordering the northern Gulf of Mexico and domestic turkeys were common in parts of Mexico. A wild turkey ( Meleagris gallopavo silvestris ) at Puerto Real might be indirect evidence that wild turkeys were sent to Europe in the early to mid-1500s from the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico. If the Puerto Real individual is a domestic South Mexican turkey ( Meleagris gallopavo gallopavo ), however, this would confirm that domestic turkeys were present in the Caribbean archipelago shortly after 1492. Ancient mitochondrial DNA D-loop analysis confirmed the identification of Meleagris gallopavo , with a haplotype most consistent with a Mesoamerican origin. Isotopic evidence suggested a reliance on C 4 plants, likely maize ( Zea mays ), rather than a typical wild turkey diet high in C 3 plants. Together, the biomolecular evidence suggests this turkey traces its lineage to Mesoamerica, and is part of the larger post-Columbian merger of diverse cultural traditions.

Much of the discussion regarding the peopling of the Americas during the Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene is focussed on advocating either a terrestrial route through an ice-free corridor or a coastal route along the Pacific rim. Central to this question is the potential of marine resources to sustain human endeavours. A growing body of archaeological data from the eastern Pacific rim shows that people did use marine resources as they moved south through the hemisphere and that they took advantage of the opportunities and challenges of coastal life in a wide range of different habitats. This is particularly evident in the vertebrate remains recovered from two shell deposits on the southern coast of Peru: Quebrada Jaguay and the Ring Site. Jaguay is one of the earliest known Terminal Pleistocene coastal sites in the hemisphere and the Ring Site was occupied during the Early Holocene. The sites are located within ca. 120 km of one another. Together, they document both the antiquity and the persistence of maritime strategies in southern Peru. At Jaguay the focus was on two fishes from a relatively high trophic level. The catch at the Ring Site was richer, more diverse, and drawn from a broader range of trophic levels. These data join a growing body of evidence demonstrating that discussions about the peopling of the Americas that presume marine resources were inferior to terrestrial ones, that propose simple models assuming a uniform, homogeneous “coastal” strategy prevailed, or that evaluate data in terms of stark dichotomies such as hunting versus fishing, simple versus complex, inland versus coastal, and mobility versus sedentism, fail to capture the richness of human solutions to life on this, or any, coast.

Vertebrate remains from two stratified sites, the Quebrada Jaguay site (QJ-280) and the Ring Site, reveal details about economic strategies practiced between 13,145 and 7500 cal yr BP on the southern coast of Peru. The near absence of terrestrial resources, a broad continuity in economic activities focused on marine resources, and flexibility within the overall strategy, are among the most interesting aspects of these data. Although they reflect economic and social decisions driven, in part, by fluctuations in environmental conditions, they demonstrate that people were sophisticated strategists actively responding to dynamic environmental conditions.

Vertebrate collections from Quebradas Tacahuay, Jaguay, de los Burros, and the Ring Site, located on the southern coast of Peru and occupied during the Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene, indicate that a flexible use of fishes and other marine vertebrates began with the earliest occupations known for the region and continued into the Early Holocene. Terminal Pleistocene collections have lower fish diversity and fishes are from trophic levels at or below 3.5. By comparison, fish diversity in Early Holocene collections is higher and the range of trophic levels broader. Local economic specialization was practiced at these sites, but no single strategy was practiced at any of them, nor did a particular strategy prevail throughout the region. People used many techniques at each site, demonstrating their ability to take advantage of differences within a broadly similar resource base. Despite environmental changes associated with the Pleistocene/Holocene transition, coastal communities continued to ...

Data from three early European-sponsored colonies in North America indicate that changes in animal use occurred quickly. Over half of the meat from vertebrate sources in a Spanish assemblage associated with the first permanent European settlement on the Atlantic coast (Florida) and a French assemblage from the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico near Mobile (Alabama) are from local, wild animals. The English assemblage associated with Charles Towne (South Carolina) reflects the rapid development of a short-lived cattle industry. Early colonists by and large practised a strategy that combined similar arrays of local wild meat sources with pork or beef regardless of the national affiliation of the colony, the ethnicity of the colonists, or the century in which colonization occurred.

Data from early European-sponsored colonies on the coasts of the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico in southeastern North America (USA) indicate that transformations in vertebrate use occurred quickly. Over half of the vertebrate individuals in a Spanish collection associated with the first permanent European settlement on the Atlantic coast (Florida), British collections associated with Charles Towne (South Carolina), and French collections from the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico (Alabama and Mississippi) are local wild vertebrates. This use of wild vertebrates occurred regardless of a colony’s national affiliation, the ethnicity of the colonists, or the century in which colonization occurred.

The quantity and variety of animals contributing to foodways and landscapes often are overlooked in studies of urban experiences after AD 1500 in North America. Charleston, South Carolina (USA) was founded in its present location in 1680 and the Charleston faunal assemblage reviewed here was deposited between 1692 and the early 1900s at multiple sites. It contains over 134,000 specimens (NISP) and the remains of an estimated 2,174 individuals (MNI) from 152 vertebrate taxa. This large faunal assemblage demonstrates that the urban setting contained a rich mosaic of people and animals with some of these animals filling multiple roles in that landscape. Non-commensal wild and domestic animals contributed to a unique lowcountry cuisine and many of these same animals, in addition to commensal ones, lived in the city. Many aspects of the urban environment were designed to accommodate and restrict these animals. The activities of animals shaped, and were shaped by, the developing urban environment. Unli...

Continuity is a hallmark of a broad-based fishery at archaeological sites from coastal Georgia (southeastern Atlantic coast, USA) despite changes in the biogeochemical and cultural contexts within which fishing occurred. This continuity probably is not due to a lack of adverse impacts of both non-anthropogenic and anthropogenic origins, but instead to the ecosystem's resilience. Resilient ecosystems are easily altered but recover quickly. The most ubiquitous and abundant fishes are characterized by flexibility and resilience, enabling them to flourish within an environment with considerable spatial heterogeneity and biogeochemical properties that change annually and with each tidal cycle. The fishing strategies practiced by people living along the coast also were flexible and resilient. Perhaps the fishery was managed through cultural institutions that avoided overfishing and a system-wide collapse. This conclusion is drawn from evidence for flexibility, resilience, and possible overfishing found in two aspects of the zooarchaeological record: (1) relative exploitation of different taxa and (2) subsistence efficiency.

The quantity and variety of animals contributing to foodways and landscapes are often overlooked in studies of urban colonial experiences. In colonial Charleston, South Carolina (USA), wild and domestic animals contributed to a unique lowcountry cuisine. Some of these animals lived in the city where their activities shaped, and were shaped by, the urban landscape. Many aspects of the environment were designed to accommodate and restrict these animals. Excavations at two eighteenth-century sites provide more detailed views of the changing role of animals in the lowcountry foodways and landscape from 1720 into the 1800s.

People promote environmental change through behaviors such as habitat alteration and over-exploitation; they adapt to environmental changes for which they are not responsible; and they implement cultural changes that may be either causes or consequences of local environmental conditions. Thus, communities and populations could be impacted by interactions and feedbacks to stimuli and responses of both anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic origin. Given the complexity of these phenomena, many archaeologists and ecologists focus on one or two variables. Due to growing interest in the long-term historical record offered by archaeological data, it is timely to pose the question: “What are we measuring in the zooarchaeological record of fishing strategies?” Our answer is that we are measuring interrelated social and ecological patterns and processes influencing long-term social and ecological dynamics. We demonstrate the complexity of these measurements with a case study focusing on zooarchaeological dat...