Researchers have a clue to the mysterious departure of ancient cliff-dwelling people more than 700 years ago. A paper published in the journal PLoS One supports the view that Pueblo Indians in New Mexico today are descendants of an earlier civilization in Colorado. Scott Ortman, archaeologist and a co-author of the Pueblo study, says he’s found unusual proof of a mass Colorado-to-New-Mexico migration: turkey bones.
Here’s the theory:
In the 1200s, the Mesa Verde area of Colorado was a center of Southwest American Indian (Puebloan) society. A drought in 1277 prompted a huge southerly migration—especially to northern New Mexico’s Rio Grande Valley.
Long before now, language quirks, traditional Indian lore, and even facial features made researchers wonder whether Pueblo peoples in New Mexico originally came from Colorado. Archaeologists knew Pueblo cliff dwellers would have taken belongings like pottery, clothing, and animals when they moved. They dug for clues in both sites. They looked for evidence connecting the two cultures.
Here’s what happened:
Researchers found lots of turkey bones in both locations. They studied DNA from the bones. DNA from Colorado turkeys matched DNA from New Mexico turkeys. Then scientists looked at earth layers. Layers generally reveal the order of events: evidence in bottom layers is older; evidence in top layers is newer.
Comparing layers and timelines led scientists to a conclusion: Turkeys became more common in New Mexico about the same time the Colorado people left their cliff dwellings. That led scientists to believe people took turkeys along when they migrated.
According to Ortman, the facts suggest “a strong connection between contemporary Tewa Pueblo people in New Mexico and the Pueblo people who lived in Mesa Verde [Colorado] country before its collapse.”
Here’s the problem:
Archaeologist Jim Allison agrees. But he says the study didn’t use enough DNA samples—only 11 from the Colorado site before 1280. “It would have been really nice to have 10 times as many,” Allison says. Other archaeologists point out differences in pottery and architecture. Ortman admits that turkey DNA alone isn’t definitive evidence of a Pueblo migration to New Mexico.
Traditional support:
Theresa Pasqual, an Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico, says the turkey DNA study encourages her. She believes it supports oral traditions of present-day Pueblos that suggest ties to Mesa Verde, Colorado. “These places have been a part of our narrative and a part of our history and a part of our present-day life for as long as we can remember,” she says.
And to think the solution to this migration mystery may have been buried with a centuries-old supper.
