Archaeological and Biometric Perspectives on the Diversity and Origin of African Chickens

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Essential Contributions from African to Global Archaeology" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Early agricultural systems relied on plants and animals originally carried thousands of miles by land and sea. Due to a lack of data and a greater emphasis on domestication processes, early agricultural complexes are less investigated than their domestication counterparts. This paper examines the introduction and evolution of chicken landraces in the Horn of Africa from an archaeological and biometric viewpoint. Domestic chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus L. 1758) are one of the most valued farm animals in the world today. Chickens are economically and socially significant in Africa. They are often associated with cuisine and identity and valued for their ability to generate income for poor rural communities. Little is known regarding their introduction and integration into African economies. Ancient and modern African chicken breeds provide unique insights into how humans managed plants and animals in the past and on the technologies early farmers developed to maintain and integrate newly introduced domestic species into local environments and farming practices, maximizing production while preserving biodiversity.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Essential Contributions from African to Global Archaeology   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36780.0