Abstract
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.
Publication types
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Historical Article
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Animals
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Archaeology / methods*
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Base Sequence
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Carbon / analysis*
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Carbon Radioisotopes / chemistry*
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Chickens
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Chile
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DNA / analysis*
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DNA / chemistry*
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DNA, Mitochondrial / analysis
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DNA, Mitochondrial / chemistry
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Fossils
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Geography
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History, Ancient
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Molecular Sequence Data
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Polymerase Chain Reaction
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Polynesia
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Sequence Analysis, DNA
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Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
Substances
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Carbon Radioisotopes
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DNA, Mitochondrial
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Carbon
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DNA
Associated data
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GENBANK/EF535236
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GENBANK/EF535237
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GENBANK/EF535238
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GENBANK/EF535239
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GENBANK/EF535240
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GENBANK/EF535241
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GENBANK/EF535242
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GENBANK/EF535243
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GENBANK/EF535244
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GENBANK/EF535245
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GENBANK/EF535246
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GENBANK/EF535247
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GENBANK/EF535248
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GENBANK/EF535249