Archaeological and biometric perspectives on the development of chicken landraces in the Horn of Africa
Bibliographic Data
Domestic chickens (Gallus gallus domesticusL., 1758) were integrated into agricultural systems in the Horn of Africa as early as the pre-Aksumite period (c. 2,500 years ago), after they were introduced from Asia through land and maritime trade and exchange. In this paper, we explore the development of chicken landraces in this region by examining continuity and change in chicken body size. Specifically, we compare the measurements of chicken bones dating from 800 BCE to 400 BCE from the pre-Aksumite site of Mezber in northern Ethiopia, with those of modern chickens (of known age and sex) from northern Ethiopia and a population of known age and sex cross-bred red junglefowl (Gallus gallusL., 1758), curated at the Natural History Museum at Tring (UK). Considered together, these datasets provide insight into African poultry development and offer the first metrical baselines of chickens with known history in the region. Thus, this study has the potential to underpin future studies of domestic fowl morphology in Africa
Agriculture · Archaeology · Art · Biology · Ethnology · French horn · Gallus gallus domesticus · Geography · Population · Zoology · Animal Nutrition and Physiology · Demography · History · Livestock and Poultry Management · Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology
Pioneering Poultry
Pre-Aksumite plant husbandry in the Horn of Africa
The osteological microevolution of red junglefowl and domestic fowl under the domestication process
More than food; evidence for different breeds and cockfighting in Gallus gallus bones from Medieval and Post-Medieval Norway
Pre-Aksumite and Aksumite Agricultural Economy at Ona Adi, Tigrai (Ethiopia)
The Pre-Aksumite Period
Traditional Knowledge and Ethnoarchaeological Investigations in the Northern Ethiopian Highlands
Exploring the Arrival of Domestic Cats in the Americas
The Pig and the Chicken in the Middle East
A Key to the Identification of Domestic Bird Bones in Europe
The domestic chicken (Gallus gallus) in sub-Saharan Africa
The History of African Village Chickens
Landscapes of State Formation
Foundations of an African Civilisation
T’ef (Eragrostis tef) in Ancient Agricultural Systems of Highland Ethiopia
Domesticating Animals in Africa
Developmental Osteology of Cross-bred Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus L. 1758) and the Implications for Ageing Chickens from Archaeological Sites
Early Evidence for Domestic Chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) in the Horn of Africa
A social perspective on the introduction of exotic animals
Chickens in Africa
General/Specific, Local/Global
| Unique citing works | 8 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,33 |
| Citation span | 2020 - 2025 (6) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 8 |