August
29, 1980
Dear
Mr Plant:
I
am quite interested in the ancestry and origin of the domestic chicken,
particularly its introduction into the Western Hemisphere.
I
have just returned from a rather extensive trip to China where I was pursuing
the earliest domestic dogs that I could find. While going through the bone
collections, I did note those of chickens. There were considerable elements of
the chicken recovered from the Neolithic site of Pan-p’o near Sian in North
China.
The
earliest chickens, recorded from the Western Hemisphere, are from South
America. They were brought there by the Spanish about 1519. There are no
pre-Columbian chicken bones from the Western Hemisphere. Some years ago I
consulted two avian palaeontologists, Drs Pierce Brodkorb and Alexander
Wetmore (now deceased). They both agreed that until chicken bones are
recovered from an early, dated, archaeological site we cannot assume that they
were here in prehistoric times.
I
would say from your letter, that you are going into the study of chicken
origins rather thoroughly. Therefore, please keep me informed of your success
relating to whether there are one or several races that may have contributed
to the domestic bird. If you wish I can dig out a bibliography of papers and
volumes relating to this study. I haven’t done so as it appears that you are
already aware of most of the literature.
Please
keep me informed of your study. If I can be of help, drop me a line.
Sincerely,
Stanley
.J.Olsen
Professor
Zooarchaeologist