Cultural and Scientific Perceptions of Human-Chicken Interactions

这种鸡原产于东南亚，但在过去的8000年里，它通过世界各地的人们运输--没有其他牲畜物种如此广泛地建立起来。鸡从亚洲向东传播到美洲一直是许多研究的主题；然而，它向西方的传播受到的关注要少得多。有一些小规模的调查记录了鸡在整个欧洲的传播，但还没有关于传播的速度及其文化和环境影响的全面审查。没有关于欧洲鸡的古代(和很少的现代)DNA研究发表，也没有任何专门针对它们的饮食或它们是否在当地饲养或交易的同位素研究。鉴于这一物种的社会和文化意义(无论是作为肉类、鸡蛋或羽毛的提供者，它在斗鸡中的广泛使用，或者它与仪式、魔法和医学的联系)，对欧洲鸡的自然和文化史的详细分析早就应该进行，这有可能为一系列学科和受众提供最高质量和相关性的文化数据。为了实现这一潜力，并阐明鸡从史前晚期向西传播到现代的情况和意义，我们的跨学科团队由欧洲考古学、人类学、遗传学、动物考古学的国际知名专家组成，和考古科学的其他分支将结合他们的专业研究的证据来回答以下问题：1)欧洲何时、如何以及为什么发生了鸡的驯化和早期饲养？2)鸡传播到欧洲不同地区的速度有多快，这种扩散与人口流动是如何联系的，贸易或文化变化？3)家禽和鸡蛋生产是什么时候出现的，不同地区和时期鸡的开发强度有多大？4)现代鸡种是在何时何地发展起来的？5)鸡在古代和现代是如何改变社会和文化的？6)过去的证据能否被用来改变现代鸡肉管理实践？伯恩茅斯大学、诺丁汉大学、罗汉普顿大学、达勒姆大学、莱斯特大学和约克大学将进行研究，以调查这些问题。这项工作将得到一个已经建立的互动研究网络“鸡舍”(www.chickenco-op.net)的支持。除了鸡舍成员，我们还将与来自英国许多地区和欧洲大陆的同事合作，他们将提供信息和样本进行分析。我们的研究将直接涉及学术界以外的群体(包括小学生、养鸡者和艺术家)，我们将与他们合作制作实体和虚拟艺术展览。这些展览将补充博物馆的一系列展览“鸡的踪迹”，这些展览将一起讲述鸡的驯养故事，并传播到整个欧洲。这项研究将为学术期刊撰写大量论文，并向更广泛的受众提供其他出版物和产出。该项目旨在利用对鸡的研究来展示如何将艺术、人文和科学的研究融合在一起，造福于学术界和非学术界。鸡在现代欧洲社会中扮演着重要角色。这个项目将大大增加我们对这种外来物种的历史的了解，并让养鸡者了解如何将这些知识用于目前和未来的鸡管理。

The chicken is native to Southeast Asia but over the last 8,000 years it has been transported by people around the world - no other livestock species is so widely established. The chicken's eastward spread from Asia to the Americas has been the subject of many studies; however, its diffusion to the West has received much less attention. There have been a few small-scale surveys documenting the spread of chickens across Europe but there has been no comprehensive review about the rapidity of the spread and its cultural and environmental impacts. No ancient (and little modern) DNA work has been published for European chickens, nor have there been any isotopic studies focussed specifically upon their diets or whether they were bred locally or traded. Given the social and cultural significance of this species (whether as a provider of meat, eggs or feathers, its widespread use in cockfighting or its association with ritual, magic and medicine), a detailed analysis of the natural and cultural history of chickens in Europe is long overdue and this has genuine potential to provide cultural data of the highest quality and relevance for a range of disciplines and audiences.To realise this potential and elucidate the circumstances and meaning of the westward spread of the chicken from the late prehistoric period to modern times our trans-disciplinary team - composed of experts of international renown in European archaeology, anthropology, genetics, zooarchaeology, and other branches of archaeological science - will integrate the evidence from their specialist studies to answer the following questions:1) When, how and why did domestication and the early husbandry of chicken take place in Europe?2) How rapidly did chickens spread into different parts of Europe and how was this diffusion linked to population movements, trade or cultural changes?3) When did poultry and egg production emerge and how intensively were chickens exploited for these products in different regions and periods?4) When and where did modern chicken breeds develop?5) How have chickens changed society and culture in antiquity and in modern times?6) Can evidence from the past be used to transform modern practices of chicken management?Research will be carried out at the Universities of Bournemouth, Nottingham, Roehampton, Durham, Leicester and York to investigate these questions. This work will be supported by an interactive research network "The Chicken Coop" (www.chickenco-op.net) that has already been established. In addition to the Chicken Coop members, we will work with colleagues from many parts of the UK and continental Europe, who will supply information and samples for analysis. Our research will directly involve groups drawn from beyond the academic community (including schoolchildren, chicken breeders and artists), with whom we will collaborate to produce physical and virtual art exhibitions. These will complement a series of museum exhibitions 'The Chicken Trail' that, together, will tell the story of the chicken's domestication and spread across Europe. The research will generate a large number of papers for academic journals and provide other publications and outputs aimed at a wider audience. The project aims to use the study of chickens to demonstrate how studies in the arts, humanities and sciences can be fused together for the benefit of both academic and non-academic communities. Chickens play a major role in modern European societies. This project will greatly increase our knowledge of the history of this exotic species and allow those who keep chickens to appreciate how this knowledge can be used to the benefit of the management of chickens in the present and future.