Доместикация кур в раннем голоцене северного и центрального Китая
Chicken Domestication in Early Holocene of Northern and Central China

Summary/Abstract: In this article the authors consider the bone remains of chicken, the most common bird species on Earth, at the archaeological sites of the Neolithic and Bronze Age in the Northern and Central China. The authors also analyze some hypotheses on the processes of domestication of birds in this region. Currently, the domestication of chicken in northern China dates back to 6000—8000 years BC, but in recent years in the scientific literature there are also publications that consider even earlier dates — about 10,000 years BC. At the moment, there are about 70 archaeological sites in this region, dating back to the time before the 7th cent. BC (before the appearance of written sources directly attesting the poultry-keeping), where osteological material of the genus Gallus is indicated among other finds. Nevertheless, the proportion of anatomically identifiable bones on almost all the sites is not high, so it is difficult to determine the species and subspecies of bone remains. Despite the fact that these finds in publications are usually designated as “the bones of domesticated birds”, according to the special zooarchaeological studies, only three samples out of all the collections described could really belong to this genus. Thus, chicken during the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age in northern China were quite rare.

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