Genetic Species Identification of Large Birds from the Dadiwan Neolithic Site in Northern China

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

We present information and insight drawn from the Neolithic of northern China (ca. 8,000 – 5,000 BP) about the manner by which large, meaty birds (including potential precursors of the domestic chicken) were drawn into the human biome. Long before they were essential staples, they (along with a range of different, but similar birds) were an occasional, and strategic feature of low-level agricultural life, itself marked by cyclical variations in the relative importance of domestic taxa. Here we analyze ancient DNA to identify the species of eight bird samples from the Neolithic components of the Dadiwan site. DNA was well preserved in each, with six of the samples yielding mitochondrial DNA sequences indicating they were of the common pheasant (Phasianus colchicus). Further genetic differentiation of four of these specimens indicates them to be one of three subspecies: Phasianus colchicus pallasi, Phasianus colchicus strauchi, or Phasianus colchicus alaschanicus. Importantly, no chickens were identified.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23683