Findings of an international team of researchers from Japan and China suggest that geese might have been the first poultry species to have been domesticated (驯养) by humans—as far back as 7,000 years ago.
Scientists have long held different opinions on the history of the domestication of birds, with a belief that it was chickens that were the first to be domesticated. In 2014, Chinese researchers reported ancient DNA taken from the earliest archaeological chicken bone discovery in China, suggesting chickens were domesticated in northern China as early as 10,000 years ago.
But the researchers behind the latest findings say that the 2014 study lacks firm evidence. In the new study, the team unearthed the archaeological site of Tianluoshan, a 7,000-year-old rice cultivation village in the lower Yangtze River valley in what is today known as East China’s Zhejiang province. They found a total of 232 goose bones at the site. The inhabitants of the village were hunter-gatherers.
The researchers used multiple approaches to study the bones, and found evidence of domestication.
Four bones were from goslings (幼鹅) ranging from eight to 16 weeks old, suggesting they hatched near the site. Geese were domesticated from wild geese. These migratory birds fly to northern Siberia to breed (繁殖) after the spring and then fly south for the winter, according to researchers from the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. They said the goslings were too young to have flown in from elsewhere. At the time, Tianluoshan did not have the conditions to be a natural breeding place for wild geese, so it follows that the goslings were born after domestication.
The researchers also analyzed the chemical makeup of adult goose bones, which contained evidence of the water they drank. Their analysis indicated that the adult geese also seemed to have been locally bred, for they were all roughly the same size. Carbon dating also showed that the bones belonged to geese that lived about 7,000 years ago.
Researchers say ancient DNA analysis is required in further studies to investigate which species were bred to become local geese populations.
12. Where did the researchers find the goose bones?
A.In Tianluoshan. | B.In northern China. |
C.In northern Siberia. | D.In the upper Yangtze river valley. |
13. What can we learn about the goslings from the study?
A.Their parents were wild geese. |
B.They were probably raised by humans. |
C.They flew to Tianluoshan for winter. |
D.They were too young and had to stay. |
14. What’s the main idea of Paragraph 5 and Paragraph 6?
A.The result of the study. | B.The importance of the study. |
C.The process of domestication. | D.The evidence of domestication. |
15. What’s the purpose of the passage?
A.To show how geese were domesticated by humans. |
B.To prove that chickens were not the first to be domesticated. |
C.To show a new study on the history of the birds’ domestication. |
D.To introduce how the geese were domesticated from wild geese. |