Scientists Propose a New Marker for the Anthropocene: Chickens

D-brief
By Nathaniel Scharping
Dec 12, 2018 12:01 AMMay 21, 2019 5:45 PM
chickens
Behold! The herald of the Anthropocene. (Credit: Moonborne/Shutterstock)

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Imagine an archaeological dig far in the future. Scientists are excavating a site somewhere in what was once North America, peeling back layers of dirt in search of the remnants of a vanished civilization. Millions of years having passed, there’s not much left, and the archaeologists must be diligent. But, as they scrape and sift, clues to this vanished people emerge, a peephole into a bygone culture.

What objects would these future archaeologists find? What specimens would they dust off, label and send to labs for analysis; what items from the present day would sit on museum shelves?

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