1-7-1986
Dear
Mr Plant,
A
friend recently sent me a copy of your pamphlet on chicken bone recoveries,
and I am interested to find out it you have completed any other parts of your
series on poultry, as the amount of research you have put into what I have
seen would be worth the cost alone!
I
am very interested in domestication not just of poultry, but of all
domesticated plants and animals. Although I am a zoologist, this is just an
interest (my field is mainly marine and freshwater studies), as you point out,
in Australia we are a long way from where all the research is being done!
I’d
be very interested to hear if you have any new information on Araucanas, or
any information you didn’t include in your pamphlet.
I’d
also like to comment on my own interpretation of the information you put so
much effort into accumulating.
You
have stated that the blue egg is a simple mutation resulting from the mixture
of Asian and American birds. Although this isn’t my main area of study, I
find this unlikely.
The
mutation is probably a single event of some kind, and therefore doesn’t need
a hybridisation between two isolated population of domestic fowl to create it.
It is more likely to have been present in either the American or Asian fowls
you believe to have been mixed.
I’ll
come back to this point later, as I’d also like to comment on the general
consensus (in archaeology) as to how poultry arrived in South America.
All
reputable references to poultry in South America make the blanket
statement that no pre-Columbian chicken bones are known and conclude that
these birds were first brought to South America by the Spanish.
There
are some possible pre-Columbian poultry remains, but not reputable archaeologist
seems to want to examine and date them accurately, and the reason for this is
interesting in itself.
It
is probable that humans arrived many thousand of years ago in the Americas,
Via Bering Strait. There are a number of people who believe the first humans
in the Americas may have arrived on the order of a hundred thousand years ago,
but there is absolutely no evidence for this.
However
Bering Strait was last exposed on the order of 10,000 years ago. If the last natives of America arrived in this time, and if they brought poultry
with them, the domestic fowls were domesticated 10,000 or more years ago,
which is far earlier than any other
animal is known to have been domesticated .
I
think this is why everyone is avoiding paying much attention to possible
pre-Columbian chicken remains, if they were pre-Columbian, the discoverer
would be embodied in far more controversy than simply proving chickens didn’t
arrive with the Spanish would suggest!
Of
course, there is some possibly of them having been brought in by sea at a
later stage, but such affords at proving maritime contacts as the Ra
expedition haven’t been very impressive.
Personally
I would say that if chickens were domesticated in Asia much further back than
is presently believed, and a small group were taken across by humans in the
last interglacial period (when Bering Strait was dry), this would be the ideal
circumstance for a mutation such as blue egg-shells to appear. Only a very
small population would have been carried, which allows rapid genetic drift to
occur (where mutations, unusual genetic efforts spread quickly because there
is only a small population for them to spread through).
In
addition, if these birds were carried to America (being bred on the way, of
course) ten or more thousand years ago, there would likely be some unusual
mutations, not all of them obvious.
I
don’t doubt that Asian birds were brought to Chile at much later dates than
the original fowls, and bred with them, but I don’t believe that is likely
to be the source of the blue egg mutation.
One
interesting comment to add to this article by Sauer (which I am trying to
chase up) refers to blue egg laying, black boned chickens in both South
America and Asia. If I can get hold of it, I’ll send you a photocopy of the
relevant bits. However, I have not otherwise heard of any blue-egg layers
except in South America.
You
have mentioned a theory which has never been researched, which is that the
blue colour is a result of losing the red from brown coloration.
However,
the blue colour is a separate mutation altogether, brown and tinted eggs have
the colour on the surface only, it is deposited after the egg is formed. The
blue colour however is a part of entire egg shell, it is a mutation of the
shell-forming parts of the oviduct, and not just added after. I might also add
that no combination of red and blue gives anything like brown!
I
hope you find my comments of interest, and I am eager to hear if you have
published any further parts of your planned series.
Regards.