Size and shape of the Eurasian wild boar (Sus scrofa), with a view to the reconstruction of its Holocene history

Abstract

A large assortment of skulls and skeletons of recent wild boar (Sus scrofa) from across the world has been used to collect tooth and bone measurements that can be compared to those from archaeological specimens. The data provide useful information for a reconstruction of the Holocene history of the species. The evidence collected so far highlights the great variability of the species and provides a baseline to be used for the interpretation of ancient material. It is shown that not only the size, but also the shape of teeth and mandibles can help in highlighting patterns of variability in wild boar from different areas. A number of geographic trends are identified in the variation of S. scrofa across its range, mainly concerning the differentiation of insular forms, and the existence of South–North and West–East clines. Other factors such as hybridisation with domestic stock, feralisation and human-induced movement of animals may also play an important role. A comparison with ancient material emphasises the existence of similarities as well as differences between modern and ancient populations. Although some of the geographic trends identified on the basis of the analysis of modern material seem to date back to early Holocene times, the morphological history of the species appears to be complex, and in more than one area fluctuations in body size seem to have occurred.     

GROOVED WARE FEASTING IN YORKSHIRE: LATE NEOLITHIC ANIMAL CONSUMPTION AT RUDSTON WOLD

We consider (a) feasting, and (b) the formal deposition of feasting detritus, with regard to the Late Neolithic pits on Rudston Wold. Pigs are common, as in most Grooved Ware assemblages, but we suggest that cattle may have played a proportionately greater role in eastern and northern England. Claimed ‘aurochs’ from the site are in fact misidentified domestic cattle; hardly any wild animals are present. Some aspects of the assemblage support the suggestion that the animals were consumed during feasts, although these were on a much smaller scale than those seen at major Grooved Ware monuments. There is no support for the suggestion that the pits saw formal or ‘structured’ deposition.     

Vertebrate Animal Remains from Prehistoric and Medieval Settlements in Primorye (Russian Far East)

A review of zooarchaeological research is presented for one of the best-studied areas of the Russian Far East, Primorye (Maritime) Province. The faunal remains, including mammals, birds and fish, were derived from archaeological contexts ranging from the Upper Palaeolithic, ca. 33 000 years ago, to the Middle Ages, twelfth to thirteenth centuries AD . Among the wild species, hoofed animals, wild boar, and bears are the most common. Domesticated animals are represented mostly by pig and dog. At the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary, ca. 10 000–12 000 years ago, some species, such as mammoth, woolly rhinoceros and bison, became extinct. Since the Middle Holocene, ca. 7000 years ago, the faunal complexes became of modern composition. The finding of bones of domesticated animals in the Bronze Age, dated ca. 2800–3200 years ago, allows the correlation of the emergence of livestock in Primorye with cultural influences from northern China. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Int. J. Osteoarchaeol., 7 : 172–180 (1997) No. of Figures: 2. No. of Tables: 3. No. of References: 37.     

Derivation and Application of a Food Utility Index (FUI) for European Wild Boar (Sus scrofa L.)

Abstract

A Food Utility Index (FUI) is presented for European wild boar (Sus scrofa L.), derived from the experimental butchery of two individuals of differing ages. The results differ from FUIs produced for other species because of the different conformation of the species. Application of the FUI to the wild boar assemblage from the Mesolithic site of Ringkloster (Denmark) allows increased understanding of field butchery, transport and processing of the animals.     

Estimating age and season of death of pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana Ord) by means of tooth eruption and wear

Age and season of death information for prey animals at archaeological sites can address issues such as season of site occupation and prey hunting or harvesting strategies. Unfortunately, adequate reference information for estimating age and season is lacking for many wild species, including pronghorn antelope. To address this problem, new methods of scoring tooth eruption and wear have been developed and have been applied to a sample of over 500 pronghorn mandibles to obtain improved eruption and wear schedules. One implication of this study is that ‘age class discreteness’ is an unreliable method for demonstrating mass mortality of prey. This study provides a much larger comparative sample than previously available, although larger known‐age mandible samples are still needed for pronghorn and many other wild species. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new Jungle-fowl from the Pleistocene of Europe

The domesticated Red Jungle-fowl G. gallus is believed to have been dispersed by man from India during the Holocene. The distal end of a radius from the Ipswichian Interglacial deposits at Crayford, Kent, was indistinguishable from that of the wild form of Red Jungle-folw. A coracoid from the early Middle Pleistocene of N Norfolk was also very similar to that species but showed differences comparable with those found between different species of Gallus. At least one species referable to Gallus is known from the Pliocene of South-eastern Europe. Extrapolating from zoogeographical speciation patterns it would be possible for a Gallus species to have evolved through Pleistocene speciation in the European region. The species might have become extinct during a glaciation or have been exterminated by early man. A new species Gallus europaeus is described with the coracoid as a holotype, and the radius from Kent is tentatively referred to it.     

Wild galliform and gruiform birds (Aves,Galliformes and Gruiformes) in the archaeological record of Bulgaria

A total of 453 bones (294 of galliform and 159 of gruiform birds) from 28 archaeological sites are considered here, 34 per cent of the total ornithoarchaeological wild bird finds collected in Bulgaria so far. They cover a period from the Early Neolithic to the Middle Ages. Eleven species (six galliform and five gruiform), 87.5 and 45.5 per cent, respectively, of the Holocene avifauna of both orders, have been identified. One species, Tetrao tetrix, has totally disappeared and three others, Grus grus, Otis tarda and O. tetrax, now breed beyond the borders of Bulgaria and the Balkans. Some of the sites of the large gamefowl species indicate their wider distribution in the past. Phasianus colchicus is present as early as the Eneolithic period. The wild galliform and gruiform species were important as a source of meat for the local population up to the Middle Ages, in spite of widespread breeding of domestic poultry. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Excavations at Lismahon,Co. Down

Abstract

There is a Growing recognition that introduced species are direct records of cultural activity and that studies of their biogeography have the potential to tell us about patterns of human migration, trade and even ideology. In England the fallow deer (Dama dama dama) is one of the earliest and most successful animal introductions, whose establishment has traditionally been attributed to the Normans. However, recent investigations of Old English place names have raised the possibility that the term *pohha/pocca relates to fallow deer, suggesting that the species was widely established in the Anglo-Saxon landscape. This suggestion deserves serious consideration as it has implications for our understanding both of AngloSaxon society and the impact of the Norman Conquest. This paper therefore presents a critical review of the literary, iconographic, place-name and zooarchaeological evidence for fallow deer in early medieval England and beyond.     

Wild Cattle: Red Deer in the Religious Texts,Iconography, and Archaeology of Early Medieval Ireland

Humans use animals as a means of creating and manipulating relationships with other human beings. This process occurs both through the use of animals for food or raw materials and through the use of animals as literary and artistic symbols. Cervus elaphus is Irelands only indigenous deer species. It is also unique in being the only native Irish, wild animal to appear frequently in medieval texts, iconography, and archaeological deposits. This paper brings together diversesources of information to illuminate how early medieval monasteries used reddeer to establish an identity for themselves and to conceptualize socioeconomic relationships with others.     

Ancient Biological Invasions and Island Ecosystems: Tracking Translocations of Wild Plants and Animals

Biological invasions are one of the great threats to Earth’s ecosystems and biodiversity in the Anthropocene. However, species introductions and invasions extend deep into the human past, with the translocation of both wild and domestic species around the world. Here, we review the human translocation of wild plants and animals to the world’s islands. We focus on establishing criteria used to differentiate natural from human-assisted dispersals and the differences between non-native and invasive species. Our study demonstrates that, along with a suite of domesticates, ancient people transported numerous wild plants and animals to islands and helped shape ecosystems in ways that have important ramifications for modern conservation, restoration, and management.     

Isotopic Evidence for Camelid Husbandry During the Formative Period at the Pacopampa Site,Peru

ABSTRACT

Camelids were domesticated in the Andean highlands, such as in the puna habitat, and dispersed into lowland areas and the northern Central Andes. As camelids domesticated in a particular region would have had a greater economic benefit than visiting- or hunted wild camelids, it is important to reconstruct the dispersal of camelid husbandry from its initial site throughout the ancient Andean civilisation. We carried out multi-isotope analyses of animal remains recovered from the Pacopampa site to investigate the nature of camelid pastoralism and utilisation. Strontium and oxygen isotope ratios from tooth enamel suggested that camelids in the early Late Formative Period (800–500 BC) were born near the site and remained in the same habitat for up to three years. Although corresponding data for the Middle Formative Period (1200–800 BC) were not available, carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios were statistically different from those of the Late Formative Period, supporting the possibility that the camelids inhabited the highland plateau like puna. It is inferred that in the northern highlands camelids were initially rare and regarded as either tribute or ritual animals, or they were used as pack animals. Camelid husbandry using maize as fodder began during the Late Formative Period at Pacopampa.     

Wild(er)ness: Reconfiguring the Geographies of Wildlife

Amidst millennial talk of the 'end of nature' ( McKibben 1989 ), this paper examines the precarious geographies of 'wildlife' in rather less apocalyptic terms. Animal (and plant) species designated wild are placed categorically outside the ambit of 'human society', confined to inhabiting the margins and interstices of the social world. Yet, we contend, such animals have long been routinely imagined and organized within multiple circuits of social power, which (re)configure them in important ways. These social orderings of animal life confound the moral geographies of wilderness, which presuppose an easy coincidence between the species and spaces of a pristine nature. In this paper, we employ the fluid spatial vocabulary of topology to map a more volatile and relational conception of the fabrics of wildlife. Our arguments are worked through glimpses of two historically very different social orderings of 'wild' animals – those associated with the military vernacular of the gladiatorial games of Imperial Rome, and the scientific vernacular of endangered species listing and conservation under CITES (the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species). These 'foldings' of wildlife in distant time/space aim to disrupt the linear historical narratives of 'civilization' and 'evolution', which consign wildlife to marginal spaces with a teleological destiny of erasure.     

Mother-Die: Plant Names and Folk Beliefs

The use of the name mother-die for cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris (L.) Hoffm.) and beliefs associated with this name are examined, as well as the beliefs found to be essentially those of the twentieth century most prevalent in northern England. Other plants which have been called mother-die, plus other names given to cow parsley, are also discussed, as are folk beliefs associated with these names.     

A mutual ecological approach to health in Mongolia

Herders spend much time and energy seeking pasture and nurturing their herd animals in Mongolia. In turn, herd animals are the primary food source for herders in the form of meat and dairy products, feeding and nurturing the herding family. The overall herding principle strives towards a mutual balance across different scales within the body and the ecological food chain, resulting in reciprocal health and well-being. The powerful medicinal qualities of the blue and yellow pasque flower (yargui, Pulsatilla spp.) are valued in Mongolia, sought out in early spring by multiple species, including herders, goats and wild deer. Herding knowledge of goats and deer seeking out the pasque flower for medicinal purposes to expel gut parasites is an excellent example of Mongolian herding families’ awareness of their interdependent interconnections with other species as part of a larger surrounding ecology. However, this level of integration may not last, as herding families increasingly rely on introduced medicines, such as anthelmintics, bought from local pharmacies and wholesalers within rural townships.     

Shape Change and Variation in the Cranial Morphology of Wild Canids (Canis lupus,Canis latrans,Canis rufus) Compared to Domestic Dogs (Canis familiaris) Using Geometric Morphometrics

Wild canid populations exhibit different anatomical morphologies compared to domesticated dogs in North America. This is particularly important concerning archaeological sites, which may contain early domesticated species, for the proper identification of osteological remains. Previous studies have indicated domestic dogs exhibit a shorter rostrum accompanied by a crowded tooth row; however, none describe the overall complexity of these changes. Consequently, using a landmark‐based geometric morphometric analysis, cranial morphological characteristics were examined in North American wild canids: the gray wolf (Canis lupus), coyote (Canis latrans), red wolf (Canis rufus), and the domestic dog (Canis familiaris). The shape and size of the cranium in lateral and ventral views were compared between the three wild species to the group of domesticated dogs. Wild canids clustered separately from the domestic group in all statistical analyses. Results indicate an expansion of the orbital region, a compression of the rostrum, and an overall warping in the shape and orientation of the skull. In domestic species, there is also a downward shift in the frontal portion of the skull accompanied by the braincase assuming a more upward position. This technique successfully depicted how slight changes in isolated areas of the cranium can have an impact on the overall shape and morphology of the skull. We presume these changes in cranial anatomy reflect the recent selective pressures domestic dogs have undergone since diverging from their wild ancestors. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Singular and Awkward War: The Transatlantic Context of the Hartford Convention

This essay argues that the Hartford Convention of 1814–15 unfolded as part of a wide‐ranging and vibrant debate concerning the role of the United States in the turbulent Atlantic community of the early nineteenth century. The author’s approach to the convention stands in sharp contrast to those of other scholars, many of whom have treated the convention as either the last gasp of the Federalist party or as a manifestation of New England’s insularity during the War of 1812. This orthodox view fails to account for the distinctly international quality of the convention. Review of newspapers and pamphlets produced in and around Boston, the intellectual and political center of New England, during the period between late 1814 and early 1815 suggests that for all their ideological differences, both Republicans and Federalists in Massachusetts understood the convention as attempting to negotiate a place for New England in the newly formed international relations triangle that comprised Britain, France, and the United States.     

New zooarchaeological and funerary perspectives on Mochica culture (a.d. 100–800), Peru

Abstract

The Mochica culture developed on the northern Peruvian coast between a.d. 100 and 800. A zooarchaeological study of the remains discovered in graves at four main ceremonial sites—Sipán, San José de Moro, El Brujo, and Moche—provides evidence of 12 sacrificed species including domestic animals such as llamas, dogs, and guinea pigs, and wild animals such as bats and parrots. A comparison of zooarchaeological data with Mochica iconography shows that animals served a variety of ritual purposes, for example, as mortuary food and as guides for souls of the dead in the afterlife. They were also considered to be mediators between the world of the living and that of the dead. This study enhances our understanding of funerary and sacrificial rituals linked to animals in Mochica society as well as in the central Andes.     

Of saints,sows or smiths? Copper-brazed iron handbells in Early Medieval England

ABSTRACT

Copper-brazed iron handbells were a distinctive feature of monastic life in Early Medieval Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Handbells were used in liturgy, prayer, worship, and later as reliquaries. In England, brazed bells of the seventh to ninth centuries take on a greater range of sizes and forms and are found on a wider variety of sites. As a consequence, their roles within Christianity have been questioned, and associations with animals and itinerant smiths have been emphasised instead. Recent archaeological investigation of an Anglo-Saxon marsh-island at Little Carlton, Lincolnshire has resulted in one of the largest assemblages of copper-brazed iron bells from any site in England, comparable to similar collections from Flixborough and Brandon. Taking into consideration the inclusion of brazen bells in some ritualistic ‘closure hoards’, this paper argues that whilst Anglo-Saxon plain iron bells may have fulfilled a range of profane functions, those that were copper-brazed, regardless of their size, were important objects amongst early Christian communities in England, and the Northumbrian church in particular.     

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.     

Comparative Skeletal Pathology and the Case for Conspecific Care in Middle Pleistocene Hominids

Lebel et al. (2001, Proc Natl Acad Sci98, 11097) claim that the pathological alterations to the Aubesier 11 partial mandible demonstrate that Middle Pleistocene hominid populations, “had achieved a level of sociocultural elaboration sufficient to maintain debilitated individuals and to provide the motivation to do so”. This hypothesis is tested here by comparing the pathological processes seen in the Aubesier 11 hominid specimen with those evident in wild non-human primate skeletal material. A variety of wild non-human primates have similar pathological processes of equal or greater severity than that seen in Aubesier 11. There is also no evidence of any condition in Aubesier 11 which would have prevented that individual from providing for himself/herself. Therefore the Aubesier 11 partial mandible cannot be taken as evidence for an increased level of conspecific care in Middle Pleistocene hominids, contra Lebel et al. (2001). This illustrates the importance of a comparative approach to palaeopathology.