An investigation into the strategy of pig husbandry combining zooarchaeological and stable isotopic approaches at Neolithic Houjiazhai, China

Abstract

AbstractHuai River, the third longest river in China, runs parallel with and between the Yellow River and the Yangtze River. It is the passageway for cultural communication between Northern and Southern China as well as an important distribution range of rice and millet mixed farming. Along the upper Huai River Valley, domestic pigs were discovered about 9,000 years ago at Jiahu. Nevertheless, chronological changes regarding strategies of pig utilization and husbandry in subsequent periods along the whole Huai River Valley are still ambiguous. Thus, this current study integrating zooarchaeological and stable isotopic approaches on faunal assemblage from Neolithic Houjiazhai(7,300–5,200 cal BP) along the middle Huai River Valley was performed to discuss related issues. Our results indicate that (1) hunting and fishing activities contributed almost equally to human meat sources as the domestic pig and (2) domestic pigs were most likely kept in a free‐range manner and foraged around human residences as their wild counterparts did. Dietary differences of ancient Sus populations among sites from the Central Plain area and the Huai River Valley were observed, which were closely linked to crop cultivation and abundance of wild animal resources. This stimulated us to consider the diversities in terms of pig husbandry strategy in ancient China.