28. 12. 1990

Dear Mr Plant,

On a brief visit to Norway I found your letter of 16 November with various enclosures, for which I thank you.

I am off to start a new archaeological project in the Canary Islands in a couple of days before I return to our major site in Tucume, Peru, in February, and as I find a deluge of mail accumulated here waiting for my answers, I have to be very brief:

I have been corresponding with my old friend George Carter about the earliest breeds of chicken, a problem which has interested me for many years. I have been unable to throw any new light on the problem, and I have personally never seen the blue eggs of Easter Island chicken. However, I may now report that blue-egged chickens are still to be found in the area around the Tucume pyramids where I personally live in the Lambayeque valley, North Peru. I have two blue chicken eggs blown out and preserved in my own residence at Tucume, and blue-egged chickens are locally available for inbreeding and research for those who are sufficiently interested and able to devote time for such a project.

With kind regards.

Yours sincerely,