Abstract
The article brings together archaeological and written sourses on the early occurence of domestic turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo f. domestica) in Slovakia and Hungary. Confirming documentary evidence, all turkey remains presented here originate from either high-status centres or urban deposits.
In Slovakia, the Nitra-Zobor Monastery and Jelenec-Ghymes Castle were an important religious and secular centre respectively, located only 13 km apart. The fort of Felsőtárkány-Várhegy in Hungary fits a similar pattern of food consumption by Christian elites.
Regardless of its uncertain chronological affiliation, the Buda specimen also originates from the area of the Royal Palace. Of the two urban sites studied, the Ottoman Period deposit at Vác-Music School showed Christian dietary influence while small percentages of pig remains indicate that at Székesfehérvár-Jókai Mór Street turkey may have been consumed under Ottoman Turkish rule.
There are two possible (not mutually exclusive) scenarios concerning the arrival of turkey in the studied area. The borderline location of sites in 16th-17th century AD Hungary would have made transmission possible in either direction.
Occurrences in Christian-controlled areas in Slovakia and Hungary suggest that turkeys may have reached the region from the West through Austria, Silesia and Bohemia. The alternative is Ottoman mediation from the Mediterranean, illustrated by the occurrence of turkey bones in Turkish occupied areas.
Documentary sources reveal that by the early 18th century AD this bird was farmed extensively in the Danube-Tisza Interfluve, previously the core area of Turkish occupation in Hungary.