Early Indian Ocean trade routes bring chicken, black rat to eastern Africa

(Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History) The earliest introduction of domestic chickens and black rats from Asia to the east coast of Africa came via maritime trade routes between the 7th and 8th centuries AD. In a paper published today in the journal PLOS ONE, an international team of researchers, led by director Nicole Boivin of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, used new techniques to analyze ancient DNA and proteins from nearly 500 bone samples.
Source: EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news