Did Chickens Beat Columbus To New World?
FILE - In this March 16, 2012 file photo, Dharun Ravi, center, and his father, Ravi Pazhani, leave court in New Brunswick, N.J. Dharun Ravi on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 openly apologized for the first time for using a webcam to spy on a romantic liaison between a man and a roommate who later killed himself, saying he regrets his "thoughtless, insensitive, immature, stupid and childish choices." (AP Photo/Mel Evans, File) / Mel Evans
Why did the chicken cross the ocean?
To get to America before Columbus — and from the other direction — according to a new report in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Many scholars had thought chickens arrived in the New World with the early Spanish or Portuguese explorers around the year 1500.
When Juan Pizarro arrived at the Inca empire in 1532, however, he found chickens already being used there, raising the possibility they had been around for some time.
And now, researchers led by Alice Storey at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, report finding evidence that may ruffle some scholarly feathers. They found chicken bones of Polynesian origin at a site in what is now Chile.
Radiocarbon dating of chicken bones at the site on the Arauco Peninsula in south central Chile indicated a range of A.D. 1321 to 1407, well before the Spanish arrival in the Americas.
The researchers were able to obtain DNA from some of the bones of these early birds, and found they were identical to ancient chicken bones previously found in Tonga and Samoa.
Chicken had been used in the Pacific for at least 3,000 years, spreading eastward across the region as Polynesians gradually populated the islands.
The DNA from these chickens also shared some unique sequences with modern Araucana chickens from South America and some current chicken types in Hawaii and Southeast Asia, the researchers found.
© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. To get to America before Columbus — and from the other direction — according to a new report in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Many scholars had thought chickens arrived in the New World with the early Spanish or Portuguese explorers around the year 1500.
When Juan Pizarro arrived at the Inca empire in 1532, however, he found chickens already being used there, raising the possibility they had been around for some time.
And now, researchers led by Alice Storey at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, report finding evidence that may ruffle some scholarly feathers. They found chicken bones of Polynesian origin at a site in what is now Chile.
Radiocarbon dating of chicken bones at the site on the Arauco Peninsula in south central Chile indicated a range of A.D. 1321 to 1407, well before the Spanish arrival in the Americas.
The researchers were able to obtain DNA from some of the bones of these early birds, and found they were identical to ancient chicken bones previously found in Tonga and Samoa.
Chicken had been used in the Pacific for at least 3,000 years, spreading eastward across the region as Polynesians gradually populated the islands.
The DNA from these chickens also shared some unique sequences with modern Araucana chickens from South America and some current chicken types in Hawaii and Southeast Asia, the researchers found.
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The fact that all islands of any size in the Americas were inhabited long before Columbus arrived is a pretty solid indication that people were traveliong around the world in boats long before the so-called archeologists will ever admit. They weren't limited to Polynesians either, Minoans, Poeneicans, Chinese and many other peoples had excellents sailing technoilogies at least 5,000 years ago and probably a lot further back than that. Most archeologists are a bunch of crooks who go around hording and selling artifacts and cussing anyone else who totes home an arrowhead.
I was looking at a photo of a Mayan wood carving yesterday that clearly shows a man with a long mustache - looks kinda Iraqi - certainly wasn't the kind of facial hair one expects from most native americans who generally do not have signficiant facial hair.
Just shows to go ya that the so-called archoelogists are just in for their jobs and wouldn't dare rock the boat of academia - there are a few exceptions of course, and thank god for them!
Hopefully some real history of the Americas can be written one day that gives credit to the peoples who got here first.
There are Scandanavian headstones in New England which pre-date Columbus by 400 years. Bligthly ignored by the historians. There is also other archeological evidence to show that Southern Canada and Northern US were villaged or lived in by non-native peoples. I object to the National Science Foundation's STUPIDITY and utter disregard for fact, perpetuating a constant myth.
Columbus wasn't in it for anything but the gold anyway...and his men killed and enslaved all the Indians they found. For these dispicable acts of greed and murder, they are rewarded with historical laudets. It never fails to amaze me how academics can be such a bunch of dunderheads.
I never understood how an explorer can "discover" a land that already has people on it.
Fertilized Eggs would be easily transportable on small boats accross the pacific so this should not be a surprize to anyone.