Editing Pre-Columbian transoceanic contact theories (section)

==== Araucanian chickens ====
In 2007, evidence emerged which suggested the possibility of pre-Columbian contact between the [[Mapuche|Mapuche people]] (Araucanians) of south-central Chile and Polynesians. Bones of [[Araucana|Araucana chickens]] found at [[El Arenal, Chile|El Arenal]] site in the [[Araucanía (historic region)|Arauco Peninsula]], an area inhabited by Mapuche, support a pre-Columbian introduction of [[landrace]]s from the South Pacific islands to South America.<ref>{{Cite journal
| last1 = Storey | first1 = A. A.
| last2 = Ramirez | first2 = J. M.
| last3 = Quiroz | first3 = D.
| last4 = Burley | first4 = D. V.
| last5 = Addison | first5 = D. J.
| last6 = Walter | first6 = R.
| last7 = Anderson | first7 = A. J.
| last8 = Hunt | first8 = T. L.
| last9 = Athens | first9 = J. S.
| last10 = Huynen
| doi = 10.1073/pnas.0703993104 | first10 = L.
| last11 = Matisoo-Smith | first11 = E. A.
| title = Radiocarbon and DNA evidence for a pre-Columbian introduction of Polynesian chickens to Chile
| journal = [[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]]
| volume = 104
| issue = 25
| pages = 10335–10339
| year = 2007
| pmid = 17556540
| pmc =1965514
| bibcode = 2007PNAS..10410335S
| doi-access = free
}}</ref> The bones found in Chile were radiocarbon-dated to between 1304 and 1424, before the arrival of the Spanish. Chicken DNA sequences were matched to those of chickens in [[American Samoa]] and [[Tonga]], and found to be dissimilar to those of European chickens.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.livescience.com/history/070604_polynesian_chicken.html |title= Chicken Bones Suggest Polynesians Found Americas Before Columbus |journal=Live Science |date=June 4, 2007 |access-date=June 5, 2007 |last=Whipps |first=Heather }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.archaeology.org/0801/topten/chicken.html|title=Top 10 Discoveries of 2007 – Polynesian Chickens in Chile – Archaeology Magazine Archive|work=archaeology.org}}</ref>

However, this finding was challenged by a 2008 study which questioned its methodology and concluded that its conclusion is flawed, although the theory it posits may still be possible.<ref>{{Cite journal
| last1 = Gongora | first1 = J.
| last2 = Rawlence | first2 = N. J.
| last3 = Mobegi | first3 = V. A.
| last4 = Jianlin | first4 = H.
| last5 = Alcalde | first5 = J. A.
| last6 = Matus | first6 = J. T.
| last7 = Hanotte | first7 = O.
| last8 = Moran | first8 = C.
| last9 = Austin | first9 = J. J.
| last10 = Ulm | first10 = S.
| last11 = Anderson | first11 = A. J.
| last12 = Larson | first12 = G.
| last13 = Cooper | first13 = A.
| doi = 10.1073/pnas.0801991105
| title = Indo-European and Asian origins for Chilean and Pacific chickens revealed by mtDNA
| journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
| volume = 105
| issue = 30
| pages = 10308–10313
| year = 2008
| pmid = 18663216
| pmc =2492461
| bibcode = 2008PNAS..10510308G
| doi-access = free
}}</ref> Another study in 2014 reinforced that dismissal, and posited the crucial flaw in the initial research: "The analysis of ancient and modern specimens reveals a unique Polynesian genetic signature" and that "a previously reported connection between pre-European South America and Polynesian chickens most likely resulted from contamination with modern DNA, and that this issue is likely to confound ancient DNA studies involving haplogroup E chicken sequences."<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Thomson|first1=Vicki A|first2=Ophélie |last2=Lebrasseur |first3=Jeremy J. |last3=Austin |first4=Terry L. |last4=Hunt |first5=David A. |last5=Burney |first6=Tim |last6=Denham |first7=Nicolas J. |last7=Rawlence |first8=Jamie R. |last8=Wood |first9=Jaime |last9=Gongor |first10=Linus Girdland |last10=Flink |first11=Anna |last11=Linderholm |first12=Keith |last12=Dobney |first13=Greger |last13=Larson |first14=Alan |last14=Cooper |title=Using ancient DNA to study the origins and dispersal of ancestral Polynesian chickens across the Pacific |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|date=April 1, 2014 |volume=111 |issue=13 |pages=4826–4831 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1320412111 |pmid=24639505 |pmc=3977275 |bibcode=2014PNAS..111.4826T|doi-access=free}}</ref>

However, in a 2013 study, the original authors extended and elaborated their findings, concluding:<ref>{{cite journal |title=Polynesian Chickens in the New World: a detailed application of a commensal approach|journal=[[Archaeology in Oceania]] |year=2013 |volume=48 |issue=2 |pages=101–119 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261656806 |doi=10.1002/arco.5007 |last1=Storey |first1=Alice A. |last2=Quiroz |first2=Daniel |last3=Beavan |first3=Nancy |last4=Matisoo-Smith |first4=Elizabeth }}</ref> 
{{blockquote|text=
This comprehensive approach demonstrates that the examination of modern chicken DNA sequences does not contribute to our understanding of the origins of Chile's earliest chickens. Interpretations based on poorly sourced and documented modern chicken populations, divorced from the archeological and historical evidence, do not withstand scrutiny. Instead, this expanded account will confirm the pre-Columbian age of the El Arenal remains and lend support to our original hypothesis that their appearance in South America is most likely due to Polynesian contact with the Americas in prehistory.
}}

A 2019 study of South American chickens "revealed an unknown genetic component that is mostly present in the Easter Island population that is also present in local chicken populations from the South American Pacific fringe".<ref name=gallinas2019>{{Cite journal |title=The Local South American Chicken Populations Are a Melting-Pot of Genomic Diversity |journal=[[Frontiers in Genetics]] |last1=Luzuriaga-Neira |first1=Agusto |last2=Pérez-Pardal |first2=Lucía |doi=10.3389/fgene.2019.01172 |year=2019 |last3=O’Rourke |first3=Sean M. |last4=Villacís-Rivas |first4=Gustavo |last5=Cueva-Castillo |first5=Freddy |last6=Escudero-Sánchez |first6=Galo |last7=Aguirre-Pabón |first7=Juan Carlos |last8=Ulloa-Núñez |first8=Amarilis |last9=Rubilar-Quezada |first9=Makarena |last10=Vallinoto |first10=Marcelo |last11=Miller |first11=Michael R.|last12=Beja-Pereira |first12=Albano|volume=10 |page=1172 |pmid=31803242 |pmc=6877731 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The Easter Island chicken's "genetic proximity with the SA continental gamefowl can be explained by the fact that both populations were not crossed with cosmopolitan breeds and therefore remain closer to the ancestral population that originated them. "<ref name=gallinas2019/> The genetic proximity might also "be indicative of a common origin of these two populations".<ref name=gallinas2019/>