Chickens were pets and burial companions before the Romans had them for dinner

As a substitute, the crew believed that the domestication process took place much later, about 1,500 BC in south-east Asia, when purple jungle fowl had been enticed down from the trees by burgeoning rice plantations.

Their presence in close proximity to the rice fields kickstarted a near marriage with human beings, but for hundreds of years rooster bones observed in human settlements normally showed no indications of slaughter, suggesting that the birds had been not used for meals.

Scientists believe chickens have been viewed as exotica and sold in the course of Asia and the Mediterranean together routes utilised by early Greek, Etruscan and Phoenician maritime traders.

Prof Naomi Sykes, from the University of Exeter, stated: “Eating chickens is so common that individuals assume we have hardly ever not eaten them. Our proof exhibits that our past romantic relationship with chickens was significantly far more sophisticated, and that for centuries chickens were celebrated and honored.”

These days the rooster, Gallus gallus domesticus, is the most greatly domesticated animal in the world, with a population of about 26 billion. Britons take in an estimated 2.2 million chickens every single day, accounting for about 50 % of all meat use.

To discover out when domestication commenced, an worldwide workforce of industry experts re-evaluated hen remains discovered in extra than 600 web pages in 89 nations. They examined the skeletons, burial area and historic documents with regards to the societies and cultures where by the bones have been found.