9th March, 1979

Dear Mister Plant,

Thank you for your letter of 4th March, 1979 concerning the origins of the domestic chicken.

I regret I cannot answer your specific query regarding which sort of fowl may be represented by the Watom Island bone. The osteologist who examined it was unwilling to be positive in his identification. I do not have the bone in Sydney, so I cannot check for the details you mention.

There are no animals depicted on the Lapita pottery, though several designs have been interpreted as anthropomorphs. The main designs are geometric, non-figurative. Several clay figurines have been found at Lapita sites and at sites of a similar age but with a different kind of pottery in the Solomon and New Hebrides Islands. None of these figures can be identified as chicken.

I hope you do eventually find some clearer information on the history of the chicken and wish you well in your studies.

Yours sincerely,

J.R.Specht,
Curator of Anthropology