6.6 The Melanotic Chicken and the Cultural Complex of Cockfighting
113
the Chinese shamanistic/medical system in nearby Guatemala, close to the Maya
speakers’ “culture hearth”, supports this possibility.
But in the light of the evidence cited by Stephen Jett and considered in Chapter 8,
for direct Chinese contact with America (from 1450 BC to 1100 BC and again from
about 400 BC to the collapse of the Mayan civilization by about AD 900) [16], a
direct Chinese introduction of the melanotic chicken to Mesoamerica seems more
likely. This is especially so because its introduction seems to have involved the
spread of a Chinese traditional medical system whose diffusion within America,
Johannessen shows, follows diffusion routes from a Mayan “culture hearth”.
Johannessen’s association of the melanotic chicken and accompanying traditional
Chinese medical system with a Mayan centre suggests that a direct Chinese introduction would have occurred in the period from AD 300 to AD 900. The period of
greatest Mayan prosperity and population growth was around AD 600, possibly the
time when Mayan influence was most likely to have extended beyond Mesoamerica:
in other words the most likely time for the diffusion of the shamanic/medical system
associated with the melanotic chicken from a Mayan cultural centre. By AD 900,
90% of the Mayan population had vanished, possibly it has been suggested through
the introduction from Asia of diseases for which the Mayans had no immunity [17].
6.6 The Melanotic Chicken and the Cultural Complex
of Cockfighting
The remarkable degree of preservation in Mesoamerica down to the present day of
an ancient Chinese shamanic/medical system associated with the melanotic chicken,
a system only vestigially preserved in Polynesia, strongly supports the likelihood of
a direct Chinese introduction to Mesoamerica of both the melanotic chicken and of
the associated medical complex. The melanotic chicken may, however, also have
been independently introduced to Mesoamerica by either first-wave or second-wave
Spice Island explorers or traders, along with a second altogether different accompanying cultural complex, that of cockfighting. Just as the close association of the
melanotic chicken with a valued traditional medical system may have played a role
in preserving the breed in America, so too the perceived superiority of melanotic
chickens as fighting cocks may have played a role in preserving specific melanotic
chicken breeding lines in both America and Polynesia. Carter notes that
Cockfighting is so important, both in the probable homeland of the chicken and among the
routes of earliest spread, that numerous authors have suggested this as the original reason
for domestication. . .Caesar’s note that the British had fowl but did not eat them is part of the
evidence that the original spread was not associated with the use of flesh or eggs. The same
pattern extends into Polynesia. Cockfighting is very important. Chickens are important for
their feathers for headdresses and other featherwork and of only minor significance as a
food source (p. 212).
Carter also notes that in cockfighting in Brazil, “the custom is to use blunt natural spurs, as is also the Japanese and Polynesian custom”. The similarity between
113
the Chinese shamanistic/medical system in nearby Guatemala, close to the Maya
speakers’ “culture hearth”, supports this possibility.
But in the light of the evidence cited by Stephen Jett and considered in Chapter 8,
for direct Chinese contact with America (from 1450 BC to 1100 BC and again from
about 400 BC to the collapse of the Mayan civilization by about AD 900) [16], a
direct Chinese introduction of the melanotic chicken to Mesoamerica seems more
likely. This is especially so because its introduction seems to have involved the
spread of a Chinese traditional medical system whose diffusion within America,
Johannessen shows, follows diffusion routes from a Mayan “culture hearth”.
Johannessen’s association of the melanotic chicken and accompanying traditional
Chinese medical system with a Mayan centre suggests that a direct Chinese introduction would have occurred in the period from AD 300 to AD 900. The period of
greatest Mayan prosperity and population growth was around AD 600, possibly the
time when Mayan influence was most likely to have extended beyond Mesoamerica:
in other words the most likely time for the diffusion of the shamanic/medical system
associated with the melanotic chicken from a Mayan cultural centre. By AD 900,
90% of the Mayan population had vanished, possibly it has been suggested through
the introduction from Asia of diseases for which the Mayans had no immunity [17].
6.6 The Melanotic Chicken and the Cultural Complex
of Cockfighting
The remarkable degree of preservation in Mesoamerica down to the present day of
an ancient Chinese shamanic/medical system associated with the melanotic chicken,
a system only vestigially preserved in Polynesia, strongly supports the likelihood of
a direct Chinese introduction to Mesoamerica of both the melanotic chicken and of
the associated medical complex. The melanotic chicken may, however, also have
been independently introduced to Mesoamerica by either first-wave or second-wave
Spice Island explorers or traders, along with a second altogether different accompanying cultural complex, that of cockfighting. Just as the close association of the
melanotic chicken with a valued traditional medical system may have played a role
in preserving the breed in America, so too the perceived superiority of melanotic
chickens as fighting cocks may have played a role in preserving specific melanotic
chicken breeding lines in both America and Polynesia. Carter notes that
Cockfighting is so important, both in the probable homeland of the chicken and among the
routes of earliest spread, that numerous authors have suggested this as the original reason
for domestication. . .Caesar’s note that the British had fowl but did not eat them is part of the
evidence that the original spread was not associated with the use of flesh or eggs. The same
pattern extends into Polynesia. Cockfighting is very important. Chickens are important for
their feathers for headdresses and other featherwork and of only minor significance as a
food source (p. 212).
Carter also notes that in cockfighting in Brazil, “the custom is to use blunt natural spurs, as is also the Japanese and Polynesian custom”. The similarity between