Nowadays, geese are domesticated not only for their flesh, but also for their feathers and their eggs. According to a new study, this species could be the first bird to be domesticated by humans.
Geese were domesticated 7,000 years ago
For this study, Japanese and Chinese researchers studied 232 goose bones found during excavations at the Tianluoshan site in the lower Yangtze River valley in eastern China. By carrying out a radiocarbon analysis, they found that the bones belonged to domesticated animals and dated between 7,000 and 5,500 years before our era.
Four bones belonged to goslings aged 8 to 16 weeks. Too small to fly, they probably originated in Tianluo Mountain. As no wild birds breed in this area today, it is unlikely that birds bred there 7,000 years ago.
However, the analysis of certain bones of adult geese shows that they reproduced there. The study authors explain that it is possible that the birds were bred by locals to compensate for the reduced number of birds available from spring to fall.
China is the largest goose meat producer in the world
By combining all these analyses, the scientists came to the conclusion that geese were the first birds domesticated by humans. ” This is an important study in our understanding of the history of domestication of poultry said Ophélie Lebrasseur, from the Center for Human Biology and Genomics in Toulouse, France.
In China, goose has been eaten for some time. Its meat represents about 76% of local consumption. Although it is not a staple part of the diet of people in the country, China remains the largest producer of goose meat, as it contributes a large part of the world’s production.
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