The lost pigs: from wild boar to domestic pigs in Norway (stable isotopes) (Jørgen Rosvold)

The lost pigs: from wild boar to domestic pigs in Norway (stable isotopes) (Jørgen Rosvold)

Bones of wild boar and early domestic pigs are very hard to differentiate. This is especially true when the size difference is small and domestic pigs for a long time looked very similar to wild boar, as in Norway. Studies of prehistoric diets, using stable isotopes, have however proved to be useful in East Asia as a tool to differentiate these. Here I present results from studies of stable isotopes from a time series of subfossil bones, from the Mesolithic to the Middle Ages in Norway. These results show a significant change in pig diet around the time of agricultural establishment. In addition, Medieval samples from urban areas show a very different diet from early domestic pigs.

Jørgen Rosvold, NTNU, Museum of Natural History and Archaeology, Trondheim.

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