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April 2, 2024, 1:14 pm

On top of health dilemmas, the history of egg consumption dates back thousands of years. The truth is that chickens are one of the most economically important animals in the world today. However, it was not yet known how they became a domestic animal and how this habit spread throughout the world. Simply put, which came first, the chicken or the egg?

by the reason

New archaeological techniques have recently led to the recognition that many bones previously thought to represent these birds in fact belong to wild specimens. Now, a new study published in the journal Nature provides the first clear evidence that chickens were bred to produce eggs, and says that the loss of seasonal egg laying (the ability to produce them at any time) was the main driver of the spread of poultry into Eurasia and northeastern Africa.

Using eggshell fragments collected from 12 archaeological sites dating back about 1,500 years, the researchers showed that chickens were widely raised in Central Asia from about 400 BC. C- Until the year 1000 AD. C- It may have been spread along the ancient Silk Road. The abundance of eggshells also suggests that the birds produced eggs “out of season.” Researchers confirm that it is this trait of prolific egg-laying that made domestic chickens so attractive to the ancients.

To reach these conclusions, the team collected tens of thousands of eggshell fragments from sites along the main Central Asian corridor of the Silk Road. They then used a biomolecular analysis method called ZooMS (zooarchaeological mass spectrometry) to determine the source of the eggs. Like genetic analysis, ZooMS allows species identification from animal remains such as bones, skin and shells, but relies on protein signals rather than DNA. This makes it a faster and more cost-effective option than genetic testing.

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