Professor Charles Higham - Department of Anthropology
University of Otago - Dunedin - New Zealand

19-2-1984

Dear Professor Higham,

Many thanks for your letter of 8th February and appreciate your assistance in the matter of chicken bone from around Ban Chiang. I will be looking forward to study the chicken bone for although I am no osteologist perhaps I can gain some conclusions as to what species it may be. I feel that the study of the chicken bones that have been recovered is very important for I as do others believe that Gallus Bankiva  was not the only antecedent of the domestic chicken.

This is supported by authorities such as Hutt, Punnett, Finsterbusch; Freeman (Brahma Fowl) and Jànossy recovered fossilised bone from the Carpathian Basin in Europe. I am at the moment corresponding with Professor George Carter of Texas A&M University (Dept of Geography) in the US, and he has given me some interesting information on chicken bone recoveries in the Americas.

The section of my treatise (Origin, etc) on chicken bone recovery is coming along and as the bits & pieces I have researched when put together to me appears to make up some sort of sense. I have quoted from your Ban Chiang paper which I hope meets with your approval.

Tank you for Jenny Cave’s address. I will write to her. Hopefully she will be able to add to the material I already have on hand.

I am sending you under separate cover a complementary copy of my book for your private library Pekin Bantam in Australia. In it I touched lightly on the origin of the domestic chicken.

Please overlook the typographical errors etc as I had to type all the stencils and print it myself, as the cost of it being published commercially was beyond my means.

Once again thank you for your assistance. After I see the bones I will let you know what can be ascertained from their study.

Sincerely yours,