EnvironmentIndo-European and Asian origins for Chilean and Pacific chickens revealed by mtDNA:
European chickens were introduced into the American continents by the Spanish after their arrival in the 15th century. However, there is ongoing debate as to the presence of pre-Columbian chickens among Amerindians in South America, particularly in relation to Chilean breeds such as the Araucana and Passion Fowl...The modern Chilean sequences cluster closely with haplotypes predominantly distributed among European, Indian subcontinental, and Southeast Asian chickens, consistent with a European genetic origin. A published, apparently pre-Columbian, Chilean specimen and six pre-European Polynesian specimens also cluster with the same European/Indian subcontinental/Southeast Asian sequences, providing no support for a Polynesian introduction of chickens to South America....
Comments
And here I'd read that the Chinese had introduced chickens to the Americas when they explored the globe before Columbus got around to it.
Posted by: David Lee | July 29, 2008 7:58 PM
neat, i haven't heard of P.C. Chickens in S. Am. before. But I think they should have taken more than one radio-carbon sample, just to confirm their date. It seems odd they'd have to use TL on pottery - if you've got preserved chicken bone you should have some other preserved faunal or macrobotanical remains. Still, those DNA results are interesting.
Posted by: megan | July 30, 2008 11:05 AM