2,000-Year-Old Remains of Domestic Chickens Identified in South Korea

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA—A team of researchers led by Kyungcheol Choy of Hanyang University found evidence of chicken-keeping some 2,000 years ago with the Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) technique, according to a statement released by Hanyang University. This technique allows scientists to analyze collagen peptides and amino acid sequences obtained from small samples of bone, thus allowing the identification of even highly fragmented remains. The chicken bones in this study were unearthed at the Gungok-ri site in southwestern Korea. “We confirmed not only the presence of chickens but also their management during the Proto-Three Kingdoms period,” Choy said. Plus, elevated levels of nitrogen isotopes in the bones indicate that the chickens had been fed by humans. Analysis and dating of additional chicken bones from sites across the Korean Peninsula could help researchers understand how domestic chickens were acquired and how they spread, the researchers concluded. To read more about the history of fowl, go to "The Chicken People."