从龙虬庄遗址个案看史前家猪饲养与农业发展的相关性

一般而言,农业的发展会促进家猪饲养业的相应发展,但龙虬庄遗址个案研究则展示了另一种相关性。该遗址周围相对丰富的野生动物资源在弱化人们对家猪饲养的依赖方面扮演了重要角色,这从更深的层次上印证了家畜饲养的被动发展的本质。龙虬庄遗址个案还显示了较强的区域代表意义。     

Morphometric Analysis of Sus Remains from Neolithic Sites in the Wei River Valley,China, with Implications for Domestication

Size variation of Sus remains within and between sites is examined for the Neolithic sites in the Wei River valley in China. The coefficient of variation [V] for pig measurements at the sites of Wayaogou, Quanhucun and Jiangzhai was calculated, and we observed patterns that show evidence of two populations of different‐size pigs, supporting the likelihood that both wild and domestic pigs were present. Also, size reduction of pigs can be traced within the Neolithic‐early Bronze Age archaeo‐faunal sequence of the Wei River valley. This size reduction was accompanied by an increase of coefficients of variation through the Neolithic. Both of these trends were probably the consequences of pig domestication, and the morphometric differences probably provide evidence for the different stages of pig domestication in this region. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Biometric Differentiation of Wild Philippine Pigs from Introduced Sus scrofa in Modern and Archaeological Assemblages

In many parts of Eurasia, the Middle East and Southeast Asia where native wild suids occur, it is notoriously difficult to differentiate these from introduced domestic pigs in the prehistoric archaeological record. Yet, correct identification of the initial appearance or introduction of domestic pigs (Sus scrofa ) is essential for determining the timing for the transition from purely hunting to the adoption of managed animal populations within different regions across the globe. In a recent review of techniques used by zooarchaeologists to distinguish between domestic and wild pig populations, the analysts concluded that the most reliable method was metrical analyses, when the data produce a clear two‐population pattern, one domestic, the other wild. In this study, we demonstrate how linear metrics are an effective tool, albeit at different levels of confidence, for differentiating the native and endemic species of Philippine pig from S. scrofa , both within modern contemporary assemblages, and the archaeological record. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Early Neolithic pig domestication at Jiahu,Henan Province,China: clues from molar shape analyses using geometric morphometric approaches

The zooarchaeology of pig domestication in China is a challenging task due to its wild boar ancestors being widespread throughout Eurasia. However using geometric morphometric approaches on molar tooth (M₂), shape and size variations, from modern and Neolithic suids, using Yangshao pigs as a surrogate for the Neolithic domestic form, we have addressed the identification of morphological change during the early step of domestication in three early Neolithic sites where claims of pig domestication have been made. Phenetic relationships here have revealed clear and interpretable phenotypic signatures in the samples of modern and Neolithic pigs; which provide evidence for pig domestication at the site of Jiahu from at least 6600 BC cal., re-establishing the Yellow River region as one of the earliest centre of independent Chinese pig domestication.     

Identifying donkey domestication through changes in cross-sectional geometry of long bones

The initial phases of donkey domestication are difficult to identify in the archaeological record due to late and inconsistent changes in morphology and body size in the earliest domestics. Use of donkeys for load carrying and the management of captive herds resulted in a distinctive behavioral shift away from the free-ranging speed and mobility characteristic of wild asses toward slower, more steady pacing. Given the ability of bone to adapt to its mechanical environment, bone remodeling in the limbs of wild asses and donkeys are evaluated using cross-sectional geometry to determine whether weight bearing or locomotor differences between the wild and domestic forms may be used to recognize early domestication. Cross-sectional data were collected on the humeri, radii, metacarpals and metatarsals of eight wild ass and six donkey skeletons. Wild ass forelimbs have greater overall strength and more cylindrical humeral diaphyses, indicating better resistance to a varied locomotor repertoire. These results demonstrate that analyses of shaft geometry can provide information on changes in locomotor behavior during domestication. Our finding that shifts in gait had greater effects on the morphology of early domestic donkeys than did load-carrying places a new emphasis on understanding selection for gait changes in domestication dynamics.     

Donkey Domestication

Donkeys are one of the least studied large domestic animals, even though they are economically important in many regions of the world. They are predominantly used as transport animals. Consequently, they are not kept in large numbers and this limits the number of archaeological specimens available for study. The donkey’s closest relative is the African wild ass, and genetic studies and zooarchaeological analyses of early donkeys indicate domestication of two genetically separate groups of wild asses in Africa. Maternal relationships revealed by mitochondrial DNA show that one group of donkeys was derived from the Nubian wild ass and that one was derived from an unknown ancestor distinct from the Somali wild ass.     

First Approach to Study the Presence of Domesticated Camelids (Lama glama) in the Chaco‐Santiago Region,a Marginal Zone of the South Central Andes

We analysed bone remains of camelids from the Maquijata site, assigned to the late pottery‐making and farming stage (ca. 800–400 BP), in order to differentiate between domestic and wild species in the Chaco‐Santiago archaeological region. This region is considered marginal to the Argentine Northwest regarding its cultural development and has received less attention than other regions. South American camelids have been one of the major resources in this continent, with domestication recorded in the South Central Andes at around 4400–3000 BP. We applied osteometric techniques and multivariate statistical analyses to proximal phalanges; the results showed interspecific differentiation of archaeological specimens, though with some methodological application issues. These results are the first contribution regarding the presence of domesticated animals in the study area. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Metrical Analysis of a Collection of Modern Goats (Capra hircus aegargus and C. h. hircus) from Iran and Iraq: Implications for the Study of Caprine Domestication

A critical comparison of two commonly used markers of initial animal domestication, size reduction and demographic profiling, is presented. A metrical analysis of a large collection of modern wild and domestic goats (Capra hircus aegargus and C. h. hircus) from Iran and Iraq clearly demonstrates that sex is by far the most significant factor affecting size in goats. In all post-cranial bones examined, those of males, even the unfused bones of males over 1 year of age, are absolutely larger than the bones of females. Region also plays a significant role in the size of these animals, but domestic status seems to have little impact. Similarly, a re-analysis of archaeological assemblages from Upland Sites the eastern fertile crescent shows no evidence of population-wide size reduction over a period that encompasses the transition from hunting to herding goats in the region, from the Middle Palaeolithic to the Early Neolithic. The apparent rapid reduction in the size of caprines during the early phases of domestication noted in earlier studies is likely attributable to a shift in the sex ratio of the adult breeding population of managed herds towards female domination, plus the differential destruction and loss of the bones of male animals killed at younger ages, as well as biases introduced by standard methodological practices. Building on the earlier work of Hesse, and using the empirical understanding of the factors influencing size in modern goats gained in this study, a new approach is proposed that combines both size and long-bone fusion data to construct high resolution, sex-specific age profiles of male and female goats that can be used to detect the hunting to herd management transition which marks the initial stages of the domestication process.     

食谱分析方法在家猪起源研究中的应用

驯化初期的家猪与野猪的鉴别是家猪起源研究的核心问题,对于准确定位家猪的起源时间和地点具有十分重要的意义。本文首先对陕北靖边五庄果墚遗址、吉林通化万发波子遗址出土的猪骨及其他动物骨骼进行了C、N稳定同位素分析,分析人类活动对猪食物结构的影响,证明了由于人类的饲喂,驯化的家猪与野猪的食物结构存在显著的差异,利用这种差异,可以有效地进行家猪与野猪的鉴别。在此基础上,对安徽蚌埠双墩遗址出土的猪骨和其他动物骨骼进行了食谱分析,并结合形态学鉴定结果,判断该遗址中已经出现了驯化初期的家猪。     

Domesticating Animals in Africa: Implications of Genetic and Archaeological Findings

Domestication is an ongoing co-evolutionary process rather than an event or invention. Recent zooarchaeological and animal genetics research has prompted a thorough revision of our perspectives on the history of domestic animals in Africa. Genetic analyses of domestic animal species have revealed that domestic donkeys are descended from African ancestors, opened a debate over the contribution of indigenous aurochs to African domestic cattle, revealed an earlier and possibly exogenous origin of the domestic cat, and reframed our vision of African dogs. Genetic diversity studies and mapping of unique traits in African cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and chickens indicate adaptations to regional environmental challenges and suggest hitherto unknown and complex patterns of interactions both among Africans and with Southwest Asia and other Asian regions on the Indian Ocean. This article argues against the static perspective on domestication as invention and for viewing it as a dynamic, locally based and continuing process.     

Measured domestication rates in wild wheats and barley under primitive cultivation,and their archaeological implications

Man's (or, more probably, Woman's) first cereal crops were sown from seed gathered from wild stands, and it was in the course of cultivation that domestication occurred. Experiments in the measurement of domestication rates indicate that in wild-type crops of einkorn, emmer, and barley under primitive systems of husbandry: (a) domestication will occur only if they are harvested when partially or nearly ripe, using specific harvesting methods; (b) exposure to shifting cultivation may sometimes have been required; and (c) under these conditions, the crops could become completely domesticated within 200 years, and perhaps only 20–30 years, without any conscious selection. This paper (a) considers possible delays in the start of domestication due to early crops of wild-type cereals lacking domestic-types mutants; (b) examines the husbandry practices necessary for these mutants to enjoy any selective advantage; (c) considers the state of ripeness at harvest necessary for the crops to respond to these selective pressures; (d) outlines field measurements of the selective intensities arising from analogous husbandry practices applied experimentally to living wild-type crops; (e) summarizes a mathematical model which incorporates the measured selective intensities and other key variables and which describes the rate of increase in domestic-type mutants in early populations of wild-type cereals under specific combinations of primitive husbandry practices; (f) considers why very early cultivators should have used those husbandry methods which, we suggest, led unconsciously to the domestication of wild wheats and barley; and (g) considers whether these events are likely to leave archaeologically recognizable traces.     

A Study of African Wild Ass Behavior Provides Insights into Conservation Issues, Domestication Processes and Archaeological Interpretation

African wild asses (Equus africanus) were the wild ancestors of the donkey and are now critically endangered. Ethological and middle range research on Somali wild asses (E. a. somaliensis) at the Saint Louis Zoo provides insights into social behavior in captive setting and domestication processes. We observed a group of three young female Somali wild asses to develop an ethogram of social behavior in the first phase of a longer-term study of social, sexual, and maternal/infant behavior. The most unexpected finding was the frequency and extent of aggressive interactions, yet they also displayed a preference for close proximity. As the first quantitative study of the social behavior of wild asses, these results provide insights into domestication processes, suggesting that in captivity African wild asses are behaviorally plastic. These findings regarding the behavior of captive wild asses further the goals of both archaeology and conservation biology.     

Wild lentil and chickpea harvest in Israel: bearing on the origins of Near Eastern farming

Several small seeded plants were domesticated as grain crops in the Near East and other domestication centers. In this study we investigate the potential of small seeded wild lentils, and chickpea as a food source for hunters-gatherers. The yield potential and the return in terms of grams of seeds per hour of collection time were evaluated in several wild populations in Israel. The yield figures never exceeded 50 g/h, and in most cases were below 20 g/h. These data reaffirm Ladizinsky's claim that wild lentils are unlikely to have been a staple resource for hunter-gatherers prior to plant domestication. The result presented herein may be significant vis-a-vis the role attributed to small seeded (‘inefficient’) plants in the Broad Spectrum hypothesis concerning late Paleolithic, pre-agricultural societies. It may also contribute to a more careful interpretation of plant remains recovered from pre-agricultural sites.     

Experimental harvesting of wild peas in Israel: implications for the origins of Near East farming

Previous evaluations of the potential advantage of farming over foraging have been based on experimental harvesting of wild cereals in Near Eastern ecosystems. The highly successful combination of cereals and legumes, “the Near Eastern crops assemblage”, is considered a natural choice due to the complementary nutritional value of the two crop types. Yet, legumes were rarely referred to in models describing early farming and the transition from foraging to farming. Wild legumes differ from wild cereals in several attributes pertaining to domestication, including population density (patchy vs. dense), growth habit (indeterminate vs. determinate), dispersal units (camouflaged seeds vs. awned spikelets), seed dormancy (90–80% vs. 50%), and year to year establishment (erratic vs. regular). We have analyzed the yield potential of three wild pea species (Pisum elatius, P. humile, and P. fulvum) in several ecosystems in Israel. All three pea species have patchy distribution patterns and the yield potential of the wild populations is highly variable. A harvest rate of 0.6–610 grams (calculated per collector) of clean dry grain per hour of harvest time was estimated. Among the three species studied the one adopted for domestication appears to be the least productive. This suggests that the potential productivity of wild peas was not the only or even the major consideration for domestication.     

CHARACTERIZING THE DIET OF INDIVIDUALS AT THE NEOLITHIC CHAMBERED TOMB OF HAZLETON NORTH,GLOUCESTERSHIRE, ENGLAND,USING STABLE ISOTOPIC ANALYSIS*

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope compositions were measured on human and faunal bones, sampled from the Neolithic chambered tomb of Hazleton North, Gloucestershire, UK. The values were used to characterize the diet of the burial community as a whole. Humans were higher in δ¹⁵N by 4.5–5.0‰ relative to animal δ¹⁵N, from which we conclude that, based on currently accepted interpretations of isotopic data, the humans consumed a diet that was very high in meat or animal products (75% by weight of protein). Comparison was also possible between cortical and cancellous femoral collagen, with the results showing no significant difference for the adult humans. The sample of human isotopic values showed little variability, in contrast to that found in the domestic and wild animals from the site (including cattle, pigs, sheep and deer). We suggest that this is due to local environmental differences, rather than to environmental change over time or physiological differences between individual animals, and that this pattern is likely to hold for many other archaeological sites when analysed with sufficient statistical weight.     

The City Hotel as Landscape Artifact and Community Symbol

The dingo, a distinct variety of dog, is generally considered to have been the only domestic animal present in Australia when Captain James Cook explored that continent's eastern coast in 1770. Nevertheless, there is evidence to suggest that a variety of pig was introduced to Australia from neighboring New Guinea, perhaps at a time prior to Cook's visit, and that a feral pig population existed on Queensland's Cape York Peninsula. Such evidence includes the carrying of pigs in the traditional Torres Strait trading system, the depiction of pigs in the Aboriginal rock art of the Cape York Peninsula, the presence of a typically New Guinea parasite in the Cape York feral pig population, the fact that these Cape York pigs are today quite similar in physical size and appearance to the pigs of New Guinea, the presence of prominent longitudinal stripes on newly-born piglets in both northeastern Australia and New Guinea, and finally the existence of a New Guinea-Torres Strait word for pig in the language of Aborigines living at Princess Charlotte Bay on the Cape York Peninsula.     

Studies on Amerindian dogs: Taxonomic analysis of canid crania from the Northern Plains

Archaeological investigation of the economic role of domestic versus wild canids among late prehistoric and historic villagers in the Northern Plains has long been hindered by difficulties in reliably distinguishing between remains of different species, especially dogs (Canis familiaris) and wolves (Canis lupus). Taxonomic confusion is the result of deliberate human selection for large, strong dogs for use as draft animals, and occasional but probably consistent hybridization between dogs and wolves. Discriminant analysis is used to help identify 33 archaeological canid crania from the Northern Plains, many of which are taxonomically confusing. Reference samples for classification of these specimens consist of six groups of modern or archaeological dog, wolf and coyote (Canis latrans) crania from North America. Thirteen measurements are used. Analysis indicates that, relative to wolves, the dogs tend to have proportionally wide posterior cranial vaults, short snouts and palates, steeply rising foreheads, and small teeth. Although convincing evidence for dog—wolf hybrid specimens from recent Plains archaeological contexts is lacking, the identification of such specimens probably has little practical significance with regard to canid domestication in general. Compared to dogs, a greater proportion of specimens identified as wolves exhibit evidence of butchering.     

Plant exploitation of the last foragers at Shizitan in the Middle Yellow River Valley China: evidence from grinding stones

China is one of the few centers in the world where plant domestication evolved independently, but its developmental trajectory is poorly understood. This is because there is considerably less data from the terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene documented in China than in other regions, such as the Near East and Mesoamerica, and previous studies on Paleolithic subsistence in China have largely focused on animal hunting rather than plant gathering. To resolve these problems the current research investigated the range of plants used by late Paleolithic hunter–gatherers in the middle Yellow River region where some of the earliest farmers emerged. We employed usewear and starch analyses on grinding stones to recover evidence for plant use in a hunting–gathering population at a late Paleolithic site, Shizitan Locality 9 in Jixian, Shanxi (ca. 13,800–8500 cal. BP). The usewear analysis shows that all artifacts preserved a range of usewear patterns best matching multiple tasks and indicating multi-functional use. Starch remains recovered from these tools indicate that the Shizitan people collected and processed many types of grass seeds (Panicoideae and Pooideae subfamilies), acorns (Quercus sp.), beans (Phaseoleae tribe) and yams (Dioscorea sp.). The Shizitan people represented some of the last hunter–gatherers in the middle Yellow River region. Their broad spectrum subsistence strategy was apparently carried on by the first Neolithic farmers in the same region, who collected similar wild plants and eventually domesticated millets. The trajectory from intensified collection of a wide range of wild plants to domestication of a small number of species was a very long process in north China. This parallels the transition from the “broad spectrum revolution” to agriculture in the Near East.     

The late adoption of cattle and pig husbandry in Neolithic Central Turkey

This paper summarizes and interprets zooarchaeological evidence for cattle and pig domestication in Neolithic Central Anatolia. Biometric and demographic data indicate that domestic cattle first appear in the region in the late seventh millennium cal BC while domestic pigs are not evident until the mid fifth millennium. This places the origins of cattle and pig husbandry in Central Anatolia considerably later than in neighboring regions. Reasons for this delay in the spread of productive animal husbandry practices are explored.