Pigs and Humans: 10,000 Years of Interaction [Hardback]

Pigs are unique among domesticated animals in their adaptability and flexiblility. They are the only omnivorous domesticated animal, to the extent that they can serve as waste disposal units, and can be housed in a range of circumstances, rural and urban. However they have a somewhat ambiguous cultural position, seen as dirty, smelly and greedy, and their consumption is prohibited by both the Jewish and Muslim religions. This collection of essays takes a variety of approaches to examine the relationship between humans and pigs, from their first domestication, and in a global context. Essays range from precise discussions of archaeo-zoological method, through issues relating to domestication, to the place of pigs in various cultures and economies, finishing with a look at the artistic and symbolic significance of pigs.

Introduction , Umberto Albarella, Keith Dobney, Anton Ervynck & Peter Rowley-Conwy

I. Evolution and Taxonomy

1. Current views on taxonomy and zoogeography of the genus Sus , Colin Groves
2. Current views on Sus phylogeography and pig domestication as seen through modern mtDNA studies , Greger Larson, Umberto Albarella, Keith Dobney & Peter Rowley-Conwy
3. The molecular basis for phenotypic changes during pig domestication , Leif Andersson

II. The History of Pig Domestication and Husbandry

4. The transition from wild boar to domestic pig in Eurasia, illustrated by a tooth development defect and biometrical data , Keith Dobney, Anton Ervynck, Umberto Albarella & Peter Rowley-Conwy
5. Culture, ecology and pigs from the 5th to the 3rd millennium BC around the Fertile Crescent , Caroline Grigson
6. Hunting or management? The status of Sus in the Jomon Period, Japan , Hitomi Hongo, Tomoko Anezaki, Kyomi Yamazaki, Osamu Takahashi & Hiroki Sugawara
7. Wild boar and domestic pigs in Mesolithic and Neolithic southern Scandinavia , Peter Rowley-Conwy & Keith Dobney
8. The economic role of Sus in early human fishing communities , Marco Masseti
9. An investigation into the transition from forest dwelling pigs to farm animals in medieval Flanders, Belgium , Anton Ervynck, An Lentacker, Gundula Muldner, Mike Richards & Keith Dobney

III. Methodological Applications

10. Age estimation of wild boar based on molariform mandibular tooth development and its application to seasonality at the Mesolithic site of Ringkloster, Denmark , Richard Carter & Ola Magnell
11. A statistical method for dealing with isolated teeth: ageing pig teeth from Hagoshrim, Israel , Annat Haber
12. Inter-population variation in recent wild boar from Israel , Goggy Davidowitz & Liora Kolska Horwitz
13. A dental microwear study of pig diet and management in Iron Age, Romano-British, Anglo-Scandinavian and medieval contexts in England , Tom Wilkie, Ingrid Mainland, Umberto Albarella, Keith Dobney & Peter Rowley-Conwy
14. The histopathology of fluorotic dental enamel in wild boar and domestic pigs , Horst Kierdorf & Uwe Kierdorf
15. Economic and ecological reconstruction at the Classical site of Sagalassos, Turkey, using pigs' teeth , Sofie Vanpoucke, Bea De Cupere & Marc Waelkens

IV. Ethnographic Studies

16. Ethnoarchaeology of pig husbandry in Sardinia and Corsica , Umberto Albarella, Filippo Manconi, Jean-Denis Vigne & Peter Rowley-Conwy
17. Traditional pig butchery by the Yali people of West Papua (Irian Jaya): an ethnographic and archaeozoological example , Jacqueline Studer & Daniel Pillonel
18. Pigs in the New Guinea Highlands: an ethnographic example , Paul Sillitoe

V. Pigs in Ritual and Art
19. Wild boar hunting in the Eastern Mediterranean from the 2nd to the 1st millennium BC , Anne-Sophie Dalix & Emmanuelle Vila
20. The pig in medieval iconography , Sarah Phillips