Introduction to the special issue - Turkey husbandry and domestication: Recent scientific advances

The turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is unique in being the only major vertebrate animal domesticated in ancient North/Central America. Despite its unique status, its history of use, management, and domestication has received relatively little attention in comparison to other domesticated animals. The history of turkey management and domestication is thus a large gap in our knowledge of animal husbandry, and how and why animal domestication developed in ancient North/Central America. This introductory article presents background on the history of turkey husbandry and domestication research to contextualize the collected papers presented in this special issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. The contribution of each paper is discussed in regards to past and current research trends, and how they articulate with likely directions for future research.