Chickens were first exotic, and then food: scientists learned how people domesticated them

They also found evidence that chickens were originally viewed as exotic, and only a few

centuries later they began to be used as a food source.

Historians have previously claimed that chickens were domesticated about 10,000 years ago in China, Southeast Asia, or India, and that chickens were in Europe over 7,000 years ago.

New research shows that this is not the case.The authors note that the reason for the domestication of chickens was the emergence of dry rice farming in Southeast Asia. The wild ancestor of chickens lived there - the red bird of the jungle. Dry rice attracted birds, and they began to contact people more.

This process of domestication began around1500 BC on the peninsula of Southeast Asia. The study suggests that chickens were then transported first through Asia and then across the Mediterranean along routes used by early Greek, Etruscan and Phoenician sea traders.

During the Iron Age, chickens were revered in Europeand, as a rule, were not used for food. Research has shown that several of the earliest chickens were buried separately and were not butchered. Also, the remains of chickens were buried along with people. Then the Roman Empire began to popularize chickens and eggs as food. 

The oldest bones of a domestic chicken have been found in the Neolithic Ban Non Wat in central Thailand. They are approximately 1650–1250 BC.

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