Chicken domestication
Domesticación de la gallina
- Date
- c. 5400 BCE (muy discutido) · confidence low
- Place
- Cishan, Hebei, China (claimed); Ban Non Wat, Thailand (recent consensus)
- Credited to
- Neolithic cultures of northern China (claimed) or south-east Asia
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Rearing of red junglefowl (Gallus gallus) attracted to rice and millet fields. A bird that converts scraps into eggs and meat and travels easily, making it the most numerous domestic animal on the planet.
The Chinese dates from Cishan (c. 5400 BCE) are rejected by Peters et al. (2022), who place domestication at Ban Non Wat (Thailand) around 1650–1250 BCE, outside this period. Included for its common citation, with low confidence.
What it led to
- Eggs as a cheap, ubiquitous protein
- Cockfighting, divination and solar cults linked to the bird
- Global spread via trade and maritime routes
Built on
Made possible
- Poultry farming
- Artificial incubator (Egypt)