Pigs and humans in Early Neolithic South-eastern Europe

Autor: Donna de Groene, Petar Zidarov, Nedko Elenski, Youri van den Hurk, Thijs van Kolfschoten, Canan Çakirlar
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2018
Předmět:
Zdroj: Documenta Praehistorica, Vol 45 (2018)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1408-967X
1854-2492
DOI: 10.4312/dp.45.4
Popis: The Bulgarian site Džuljunica-Smărdeš, dating to 6205-5529 cal. BC, is one of the oldest Neolithic sites in Europe. Both domestic cattle and caprines are present in the zooarchaeological assemblage, but Sus, in contrast, is extremely rare. It is not known if the earliest Neolithic people in Europe did rear domestic pigs, practised some form of pig management, or only hunted wild boar. This research investigates the human pig relationships, using biometry, kill-off patterns and isotopic dietary analysis. With this integrated methodological approach, it might be possible to characterize human-suid relationships in this pivotal Early Neolithic site with greater accuracy. Understanding this relationship at this site contributes to the broader debate on how Neolithisation and domesticates spread through Europe, and which bio-cultural mechanisms were responsible for differential patterns of animal exploitation.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals