Red Junglefowl - Domestication

Domestication

In July 2012, Dr Alice Storey et al announced a study using mitochondrial DNA recovered from ancient bones from Europe, Thailand, the Pacific and Chile, and from Spanish colonial sites in Florida and the Dominican Republic, in directly dated samples originating in Europe at 1000 B.P. and in the Pacific at 3000 B.P. The study showed that chickens were likely domesticated from wild Red Junglefowl, though some have suggested possible genetic contributions from other Junglefowl species. Domestication occurred at least 5,400 years ago from a common ancestor flock in the bird's natural range, then proceeded in waves both east and west. The paper also states that the earliest undisputed domestic chicken remains are bones associated with a date of approximately 5400 BC from the Chishan site, in the Hebei province of China. In the Ganges region of India, Red Junglefowl were being exploited by humans as early as 7,000 years ago. No domestic chickens older than 4,000 years have been identified in the Indus Valley, and the antiquity of chickens recovered from excavations at Mohenjodaro is still debated.