Identification of domestic chicken bones in archaeological sites
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Hui Deng
Abstract
In recent years, with the participation of genetics and other disciplines, the controversy on the origins of the domestic chicken has returned. As the resource of primary data, archaeology plays an extremely important role in this dispute. Taking an archaeological standpoint, this paper aims to establish a set of bone morphological identification standards for domestic chicken bones unearthed at archaeological remains, beginning with the bone morphology as the most basic but also the least studied aspect. By this set of standards, we reanalyze available chicken bone materials and relevant pictorial and textual materials for domestic chicken candidate samples as mentioned by previous scholars. The results show that no confirmed domestic chicken bones have been found in China’s early to mid-Holocene remains to date; meanwhile, there is no substantial archaeological evidence to support China as the earliest place of origin of domestic chicken. Future work seeking to advance research on the origin of the domestic chicken should first pay proper attention to the archaeological background; only continuing scientific analyses and exploration on the origin of domestic chicken based on scientific morphological identification will prove the most convincing methodology.
Postscript
The original report published in Kaogu 考古 (Archaeology) 2019.7:96–107 with 14 illustrations and three tables was co-authored by Hui Deng 邓惠 and Jun Li 李君. This abridged version is translated into English by Edward Allen 安达.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- New archaeological discoveries
- The Qingtang site in Yingde City, Guangdong Province
- The Wangjiabang cemetery of the Chenghe site of the Neolithic Age in Shayang County, Hubei Province
- The Lushanmao site of the Neolithic Age in Yan’an City, Shaanxi Province
- The Liujiawa site of the Rui state of the Eastern Zhou in Chengcheng County, Shaanxi Province
- The Chengba site in Quxian County, Sichuan Province
- The Taizicheng city site of the Jin dynasty in Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province
- Reports
- The excavation of Zone III of the Xiaonanshan site in Raohe County, Heilongjiang Province in 2015
- The excavation of tomb M2158 at the Hengshui cemetery of the Western Zhou dynasty in Jiangxian County, Shanxi Province
- The excavation of a Buddhist temple complex of the Qocho Uyghur kingdom in the middle of the west zone of the Tuyoq caves in Shanshan County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
- Research
- On cupstones in South China
- Study on the burial practice of tomb M13 of the Yangshao culture at Baligang site in Dengzhou City
- On the source “composition” of the bronze vessels in the burials of the Yinxu site
- Shang dynasty bronzes and society in southern China: an illustration of complexity and diversity
- The unearthed bronze coin molds and the evolution of coin technology in the Warring States period and Qin-Han dynasties
- The “bowl-shaped” bloomeries of Pingnan County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and the origins of “bowl-shaped” bloomery in China
- On the early lokapāla statues in the Buddhist sculptures unearthed in Chengdu
- The Shangjing norm of the Liao dynasty and the Dongjing mode of the Northern Song dynasty
- Identification of domestic chicken bones in archaeological sites
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- New archaeological discoveries
- The Qingtang site in Yingde City, Guangdong Province
- The Wangjiabang cemetery of the Chenghe site of the Neolithic Age in Shayang County, Hubei Province
- The Lushanmao site of the Neolithic Age in Yan’an City, Shaanxi Province
- The Liujiawa site of the Rui state of the Eastern Zhou in Chengcheng County, Shaanxi Province
- The Chengba site in Quxian County, Sichuan Province
- The Taizicheng city site of the Jin dynasty in Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province
- Reports
- The excavation of Zone III of the Xiaonanshan site in Raohe County, Heilongjiang Province in 2015
- The excavation of tomb M2158 at the Hengshui cemetery of the Western Zhou dynasty in Jiangxian County, Shanxi Province
- The excavation of a Buddhist temple complex of the Qocho Uyghur kingdom in the middle of the west zone of the Tuyoq caves in Shanshan County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
- Research
- On cupstones in South China
- Study on the burial practice of tomb M13 of the Yangshao culture at Baligang site in Dengzhou City
- On the source “composition” of the bronze vessels in the burials of the Yinxu site
- Shang dynasty bronzes and society in southern China: an illustration of complexity and diversity
- The unearthed bronze coin molds and the evolution of coin technology in the Warring States period and Qin-Han dynasties
- The “bowl-shaped” bloomeries of Pingnan County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and the origins of “bowl-shaped” bloomery in China
- On the early lokapāla statues in the Buddhist sculptures unearthed in Chengdu
- The Shangjing norm of the Liao dynasty and the Dongjing mode of the Northern Song dynasty
- Identification of domestic chicken bones in archaeological sites
