Radiocarbon and DNA evidence for a pre-Columbian introduction of Polynesian chickens to Chile

Two issues long debated among Pacific and American prehistorians are (i) whether there was a pre-Columbian introduction of chicken (Gallus gallus) to the Americas and (ii) whether Polynesian contact with South America might be identified archaeologically, through the recovery of remains of unquestio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2007-06, Vol.104 (25), p.10335-10339
Main Authors: Storey, Alice A, Ramírez, José Miguel, Quiroz, Daniel, Burley, David V, Addison, David J, Walter, Richard, Anderson, Atholl J, Hunt, Terry L, Athens, J. Stephen, Huynen, Leon, Matisoo-Smith, Elizabeth A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ancient DNA
Animals
anthropology
archaeological chicken bones
Archaeological sites
Archaeology
Archaeology - methods
Base Sequence
Biological Sciences
Bones
Carbon
Carbon - analysis
Carbon Radioisotopes - chemistry
Chickens
Chile
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
DNA - analysis
DNA - chemistry
DNA, Mitochondrial - analysis
DNA, Mitochondrial - chemistry
domestication
Fossils
Gallus gallus
Geography
History, Ancient
immigrants
introduced species
Mitochondrial DNA
Molecular evolution
Molecular Sequence Data
nucleotide sequences
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Polynesia
Polynesian studies
Poultry
Precolumbian era
prehistoric agriculture
Prehistoric era
Radiocarbon dating
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
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Summary:Two issues long debated among Pacific and American prehistorians are (i) whether there was a pre-Columbian introduction of chicken (Gallus gallus) to the Americas and (ii) whether Polynesian contact with South America might be identified archaeologically, through the recovery of remains of unquestionable Polynesian origin. We present a radiocarbon date and an ancient DNA sequence from a single chicken bone recovered from the archaeological site of El Arenal-1, on the Arauco Peninsula, Chile. These results not only provide firm evidence for the pre-Columbian introduction of chickens to the Americas, but strongly suggest that it was a Polynesian introduction.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0703993104